Childhood Memories
by f-romanoff-13
Summary: The avengers are regressed to children: Natasha, Clint, Tony, Steve, Thor, and Bruce are looked after by Pepper, Phil and Maria who find the mini-avengers are more trouble than the adult ones! Reviews are always appreciated!
1. Not Part of the Job

Fury sat in his office; his desk covered in various bit of paperwork, reports and files. He rubbed his head to try and shake the headache that had been building since Coulson had phoned...

When exactly had this become part of his job he wondered. He was the director of SHIELD; charged with saving the world and defeating villains. Babysitting was definitely not part of his job description.

He grabbed the file which had been sent down from medical. Upon relocating his missing team of Avengers, Coulson had taken them all directly to SHIELDs medical bay for assessment. They had summarised that the 'world's mightiest heroes' had been regressed to different stages of childhood by an unknown substance.  
Well, Fury himself could have told them that!

He read on:

Steve Rogers 'Captain America':  
- Regressed to the age of 12 years old.  
- Severe asthma.  
- Under nourished.

Thor Odinson:  
- Regressed to the age of ten years old (approximate earth-age equivalent).

Tony Stark 'Iron Man':  
- Regressed to the age of nine years old.  
- Slight sleep deprivation.  
- Behaviour suggests possible ADHD.

Clint Barton 'Hawkeye':  
- Regressed to the age of seven years old.  
- Evidence of recent but healed fractured bones.

Natasha Romanoff 'Black Widow':  
- Regressed to the age of five years old.  
- Understands and speaks English. - Several injuries and broken bones including: four broken ribs, fractured wrist, black eye and severe bruising.

Dr Bruce Banner 'The Hulk':  
- Regressed to the age of two years old.  
- Otherwise completely healthy – no evidence of gamma radiation or of 'Hulk' capabilities.

He shut the file and sighed loudly. This needed fixing and fast!

* * *

"Director Fury, you called me?"

Pepper's voice startled Fury; he looked up to see her stood in his doorway; she looked smart in her suit, but concern was plastered all over her face.

"Has something happened? Tony? The others? Are they okay?" she stammered.

"Yes... No... Well... Sort of" – Fury really didn't know where to start. But was saved from trying to figure it out by a small knock on the door.

They both turned to see Phil Coulson waiting, he entered Fury's office, smiled politely at Pepper, then turned to Fury: "They're all done up in medical sir"

Fury nodded. "Please fill Ms Potts in on the situation, we'll need her help on this one" he stated matter of factly, before turning to leave his office, preventing Pepper asking him any complicated questions that he really didn't have the answers to. Phil can handle that he thought as he stalked up the narrow corridor.


	2. Meet the Kids

"WHAT?!" was all Pepper could respond, completely shocked.

"Kids?! No, really? REALLY?"

Phil sat silently, Pepper was pretty much engaged in a one-sided conversation, punctuated by occasional nods on his part.

"This must be a mistake! That just CAN'T happen! It's impossible!"

"Pepper, you live in a tower with six superheroes" Phil reminded her calmly. "One of whom is a god from another world and one of whom spent 70 years frozen in ice"

Pepper stopped ranting and pacing back and forth, realisation suddenly hitting her. Finally, It had been 20 minutes since he'd told her what had happened, or as much of what had happened that Phil knew himself.

"Tell me again?" she asked him, sounding slightly defeated, all her energy used up in the 20 minutes of denial she'd just put herself through.

"Wait here" he told her gently. "I'll bring them to you, we'll need your help in looking after them. They're bound to be a handful!"  
"Especially Stark" he added in a whisper as he turned to collect 'The Avengers' from the medical bay.

* * *

Pepper could not believe her luck. She'd just finished work for a week off, her first proper vacation since she'd begun working at Stark Industries. She'd hoped to spend some time alone with Tony, maybe go out for a lunch date with Natasha, and just relax!

But as luck would have it, just before she left her office, her phone rang.

"Pepper Potts" she answered quickly as she filed away her last bits of paperwork.

"Pepper, its Maria Hill from SHIELD. We've got a... urm... situation here. Director Fury needs to see you. Now"

It hadn't been a question, however polite Maria made her voice, it was an order.  
Neither Hill nor Fury had really spoken to Pepper before, so the abruptness of the phone conversation shook her and she panicked, her mind going into overdrive thinking of all the horrible possibilities as to why she'd be called into SHEILD.

"I'll be right there"

* * *

Phil re-entered Fury's office, snapping Pepper from her thoughts and back to the present. Her eyes went wide as she took in the scene in front of her:

Phil was stood holding a toddler, maybe two years old, possibly younger? He had a chubby face, bright wide eyes, and a curly mop of brown hair. As he smiled, dimples formed on his cheeks. He was truly adorable.  
A child with an equally big grin stood on Phil's left. It could only be Thor with that long blond hair. He still looked strong, but was shorter than Pepper would have expected.  
Next to Thor was Tony; a small skinny boy with messy dark hair. He looked incredibly tired; his pale skin only extenuated the dark circles under his eyes. He was rocking back and forth on his heels, bored; clearly taking everything in his stride.  
To Phil's right stood a scrawny boy with blond hair. Phil had told Pepper that Steve was the oldest after the regression had taken place, reverting to his 12 year old self.  
Holding his hand was Clint. Barely reaching Phil's waist. His dark blond hair was all over the place, he had dirt smudges on his face and arms, but there was a mischievous grin on his face; they image of any typical seven year-old boy.  
Partially hiding behind Steve, a small girl gripped his other hand. Natasha. She eyed Pepper suspiciously. Her long, red curls reached the base of her back, her porcelain skin was marred with bruises, and her left wrist was bandaged. Pepper gasped slightly, apart from Tony (her boyfriend) Pepper was the closest with Natasha of all the Avengers, and seeing her friend so small, and injured truly upset her.  
The rest of the team looked relatively unscathed, apart from Steve who was visibly wheezing.

Pepper looked back at Phil.

"They all seemed to have regressed to the exact physical and mental state at which they were when they were this age originally" he offered her as an explanation. "Which means no 'hulking out' from Bruce, no serum for Steve, and evidence of the treatment she received in the Red Room on Natasha"

"Natalia"  
The word was spoken softly, barely above a whisper, but both adults and all of the boys turned to look at Natasha. It was the first time she had spoken since 'the incident'.

"Pardon?" Phil asked, bending down to meet her eye level

"My name is Natalia, not Natasha. I do not understand why you think this"

At five years old, Natasha would have been with the red room a year at most, her English was already strong, however her accent was undoubtedly Russian.  
Phil just nodded, stood back up and looked at Pepper. "Please" was all he said, to which she replied with a nod.

This was going to be a fun week off work...


	3. Pizzas Here

Phil and Maria helped Pepper get the six children back to the Tower. Pepper took Steve, Natasha and Clint, leaving Tony and Thor to Maria while Phil had the easy job of taking care of a sleeping baby Bruce.  
Both Tony and Clint had launched into a hundred questions: "where are we going?", "why are we going there?" "how long will it take?" "can we have pizza and ice cream?" "are there video games?"  
Thor offered an occasional comment aswell, insisting he loved pizza and was extremely hungry!  
Both Steve and Natasha were silent, watching the others curiously, unsure of how to react.

* * *

All of the children were wearing clothes that were far too big for them; after being shrunk down to children, their clothes had unfortunately remained adult-sized.  
Bruce was wearing just a diaper – Pepper can only wonder where on earth they found a diaper in SHIELD HQ?  
Natasha had been left just wearing her adult-sized Tshirt, she was small for her age and it went all the way to her ankles. Clint was in a similar situation, but his Tshirt looked a lot less huge on him than Natasha's, reaching down to his knees.  
Thor had taken adult-Clint's pants. He may be short, but he was still wide-set and muscular.  
Tony had managed to pull his belt incredibly small in order to keep his pants up, and Phil had helped him roll the legs up so they could see his feet.  
While Steve had ended up wearing adult-Natasha's spare gym clothes out of her locker. Of them all, he looked the best dressed. Although he, like all the others, was bare-foot.

* * *

Once they'd returned to the Tower, chaos ensued. Clint took Natasha by her non-injured hand and the two disappeared instantly. Tony was crazy-excited looking at all the 'cool junk' (as he'd put it) occasionally shouting out comments such as "WOW! That is SO cool!" and "I HAVE to have one of these!"; darting unexpectedly from one end of the room to the other as something new caught his eye. Thor had made his way to the kitchen and had found 2 unopened boxes of pop tarts, ripping them open and eating like he'd never been fed! "These are incredible" he exclaimed as he opened the second box. All the commotion had woken Bruce, and although there was no 'hulking-out' to be afraid of, boy could he wail! Steve just looked at the three adults calmly. "Would you like me to find Clint and Natalia mam?" he asked Pepper, "Or perhaps try to stop the baby from crying?" he directed at Phil. Maria, Phil and Pepper looked at each other. At least they could count on Steve.

* * *

Maria tackled the food issue, she went to the pizza place two blocks over and ordered five pizzas with various toppings, and three garlic breads. "Got a lot of company?" the guy behind the counter asked, feigning interest. "Kids sleepover" was the only reply that she could muster up. She'd taken Thor and Tony with her, all three were glad to escape; Phil was having no luck calming down Bruce, the wailing getting louder and more high pitched as the crying baby gasped for breath. On the way to Joey's Pizza they'd stopped at the supermarket to pick up some diapers and various other bits you'd need for a baby. It had been decided the clothes issue would be addressed tomorrow; it was too late for clothes shopping now. But where everyone was going to sleep, Maria had no idea.

* * *

Phil cursed under his breath, sweat dripping down his forehead. He'd not been around babies much, well really, at all. And faced with a screaming Bruce, red in the race and snotty nosed, left Phil completely stunned. He had no idea what to do to calm him. He walked back and forth in front of the couch whispering "shush" and "its okay" over and over in Bruce's ear. It had just started to work as Pepper walked past with Steve, shouting "Clint! Natalia! Come out right now!"

* * *

"This isn't funny anymore!" Pepper shouted over the renewed screams and wails of Bruce. She was really starting to panic now. They'd been home less than half an hour and they'd lost 1/3 of the team. 'Think Pepper, think' she told herself over and over. But really, at five and seven years old Natasha and Clint had both been in difficult situations. Natasha in the Red Room, and Clint with his abusive father; Pepper had no clue what would be going through their heads, not to mention where on earth they'd think to hide!

* * *

"PIZZAS HERE!" Tony yelled, emerging from the elevator as he and Thor ran to the table, each carrying four large boxes. How they made it all this way without dropping at least one was beyond Pepper. Maria followed, bags in each arm filled with diapers, soothers, wipes and bibs.

Suddenly Clint and Natasha ran past Pepper, hand in hand, joining the others at the table. "Where the hell..?" she began, but at seeing the smiles on their faces, particularly Natasha's (she hadn't seen her smile yet today), she let it go.

They had a relatively peaceful meal. Phil after successfully getting Bruce to nap on the sofa joined the others. Steve was talking to Maria enthusiastically about a book he'd recently read, which just happened to be Maria's favourite. Clint and Natasha were sat together, sharing one chair and one plate, whispering to each other and laughing. Thor spoke to Pepper, often talking with his mouth full, a huge grin on his face. While Tony kept getting up to check on the sleeping Bruce, "just incase he wakes, I don't want him to think he's alone" he'd explained to Phil with a shy smile.


	4. An Awful Evening

"Right, I think its bedtime" Phil announced after Thor's third bowl of ice cream.

"Not fair!"

"Come on! Ten more minutes? Please!"

"But I'm not tired yet!"  
Came the responses of various children, the noise startled Bruce in the other room, causing another bout of crying.

"Damn" Phil sighed, looking at the two women, pleading with them but they both shook their heads. He got up and with a sigh approached the crying child in the lounge.

* * *

Pepper and Maria turned back to the children at the table. Three sets of eyes looked up at them, pleading for more time.

"Not again!" Pepper exclaimed. She didn't understand how they'd disappeared so suddenly and silently.

"Clint! Natalia! Where are you?!" she cried, exhaustion showing on both her face and in her voice.

Maria shrugged, rather unhelpfully, and turned to Thor and Tony. "You both need to go clean your hands and faces" she instructed sternly, as their protests started, she cut them off; "and if you do, you can watch TV until Pepper finds the terrible twosome"

"Okay deal!" Tony said, jumping down from the stool and running to the bathroom, so fast he slipped and fell. Thor right behind him leapt over him; "Ill race you there!" he shouted behind him.  
Maria turned and smiled smugly at Pepper, a look which said 'my kids behave better than yours'.

"Come on Steve" Pepper sighed, as she started the hunt for the two former assassins in a game of 'hide and seek' she could really do without.

* * *

Two hours later and Phil was sound asleep on the sofa, Bruce using him as a climbing frame, but at least quiet.

Maria was banging on the bathroom door, Tony had somehow tripped Thor during the race, beating him to the bathroom and locking the door firmly behind him.

"Come on Tony! Open the door!" Thor was now slumped on the floor behind Maria, leaning on the opposite wall, clearly crashing from all the sugar he'd eaten.

"I already told you! I can't! Its stuck!" Tony's muffled voice came from the other side of the door.

"Urgh, great!"

"Lady Hill, I do not feel well" Thor moaned from the floor behind her. "I feel really very sick"

"TONY!" Maria screamed; "get out of that bathroom right now!"  
And just at that moment, Thor was sick. Everywhere.

Steve really was a sweet kid Pepper thought, watching him check all the cupboards, under the beds and tables, and anywhere a normal child might think to hide. But they weren't looking for normal children...

"JARVIS?" Pepper suddenly thought to ask.  
Nothing. Damn, she'd forgotten; Tony was updating the whole system, uploading it while he was away on his mission, some new protocol which would supposedly make their lives easier... But without adult Tony to reactivate it, JARVIS was unable to respond, effectively turned off until adult Tony could sort it out.  
Pepper hadn't felt so alone in a very long time. Between the six Avengers, herself, Coulson and on occasion Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis and Maria Hill visiting; the tower had felt so full and lively. But now; six of the people she cared the most for had no memory of her, two of them were hiding (far too successfully), and to top it all off; JARVIS was down.

The elevator suddenly opened revealing a soaking wet Clint and Natasha. Pepper looked at them in disbelief as they stepped onto the landing, hand in hand, both of them had their eyes guiltily fixed on the floor by their feet, a steadily forming puddle appeared underneath them as water dripped from their clothing and hair.

"There they are!" Steve said, and then added "finally"...

"Yes, thanks for that Steve, please could you get me two towels from the bathroom?" Pepper asked, not taking her eyes off the two sodden children at the other end of the room for fear they'd bolt again.

"Erm, Tony is still locked in the bathroom" Steve answered.

"Theres an en suite in the master bedroom, thanks Steve"

Pepper approached the two children slowly, hands up, like you might approach a scared animal.  
She took one in each hand and lead them gently to the sofa which wasn't currently occupied by a sleeping Coulson. Damn him she thought.  
Pepper sat down, still gripping Clint and Natasha's hands.

"So" she began, hoping for some eye contact, but got none. "Please will one of you tell me what happened?"

Silence.

At this point Steve reappeared, wrapped a towel round each child and went to try and help free Tony from the bathroom down the hall.

"Clint?" she asked nicely, and then again a little firmer.

"It was accident" Natasha stammered, her voice shaking from the cold.

"Okay, I believe you. It's okay, you're not in trouble, i just need to know what happened"

"You won't hit us?" Clint asked, barely a whisper.

"No, of course not!" Pepper responded, slightly aghast. She took Clint into her arms and pulled him onto one of her legs, then pulled Natasha onto the other. Holding them tight, she looked at them, and said "You're safe here, no one will hurt you now."  
Tears ran down Clint's face. "You promise" asked Natasha. "I promise" Pepper nodded, tears forming in her own eyes as she looked at the small faces of two people she admired and missed. She realised she never truly understood them. At least not until now.

"Okay, so come on, tell me, why are you guys so wet?" She asked, forcing a smile on her face to lighten the mood.

"We went downstairs, to the pool. We wanted to see who could balance better on the edge of the high up board" Clint began, still looking scared, but less so now.

"The diving board?" Pepper clarified, to which Natasha nodded, her hair dripping water all over Pepper's suit at the movement.

Clint continued: "I slipped, and fell, but I don't know how to swim. My brother was gonna teach me, but he didn't yet..."

Pepper turned her head to look at Natasha. "Can you swim?" she asked the tiny shivering girl in her lap. She nodded; "we had to learn where i came from"

"She jumped in after me, she saved my life!" Clint said.

"Okay, well I'm glad you're both okay. And how about no more swimming for a while?"  
They both nodded.

"Pepper, theres something else..." Clint began, but suddenly stopped at a glare from Natasha.

"What is it?"

"Is nothing" Natasha said

"Clint?"

"Natalia hurt her wrist again when she jumped in" Clint said quickly, avoiding all eye contact with Natasha.  
This exchange reminded Pepper very much of the adult Clint and Natasha.

"Let me see?" Pepper asked, concerned.

"Is okay. I do not want go back to doctor. Please don't make me go back!" Natasha pleaded desperately, she looked on the verge of tears.  
Pepper looked at her wrist, the bandage SHIELD medics had put on had come off in the water, and her wrist was swollen and badly bruised. Pepper was fairly certain Coulson or Hill would have enough first aid training to prevent taking her back to SHIELD.

"Okay, we don't have to go back" Pepper said, gaining a grateful smile from both children.

"But, you do have to wake him up" she added, gesturing to the snoring Coulson opposite.

The two children smiled at each other, and without warning; pounced.


	5. The End of a Long Day

Phil stifled a yawn as he re-bandaged Natasha's swollen wrist.

"You two really must be more careful" he said, but didn't bother with a lecture, Pepper assured him that she would handle it.

Bruce was wearing a fresh diaper and was sleeping soundly on the sofa – finally!  
Between them, Maria and Steve had gotten Thor cleared up and he was now sleeping in a sleeping bag in the lounge next to the recently-freed Tony, whose hand was reached up, gripping Bruce's tiny fist while they both slept.  
Steve was asleep in the arm chair, while Natasha and Clint curled up on the other sofa together.

Pepper looked at the time. It was 2.09am and they'd JUST managed to get the last child to sleep (Clint had been the last up, waiting for Natasha to fall to sleep before allowing himself to drift off).  
Maria sat at the table with a bottle of wine and three wine glasses in her hand.

"Well, one day down..." she said sarcastically.

"And we didn't even have them all day!" Phil said, both the women groaned at the realisation that not long from now; the six terrors in the other room would be awake and running wild.

"I don't think I can take another day like that!" Pepper exclaimed. "First thing in the morning – we set some ground rules." The others nodded in agreement. They gradually gave into exhaustion, and all three fell asleep there at the table; wine unopened.

* * *

It was light when Pepper opened her eyes. She looked at her watch: 8.05. There was a blanket over her shoulders, and she was now alone at the table. She could hear voices in the other room.

She found Clint and Natasha still curled up on the sofa, watching Scooby-Doo together. Tony was trying to get Bruce to eat a banana. While Thor helped Maria clean up the pizza boxes from last night, Steve sat quietly reading a book and Coulson was on the phone. SHIELD Pepper guessed, and was proven correct at the use of Fury's name:

"No Director Fury. They have no memory of their lives past the age to which they have reverted, but they do seem to have some familiarity with each other. They trust myself, Hill and Pepper, aswell as each other. Similar friendship patters are evolving too sir. Barton and Romanoff are inseparable, Stark cares deeply about Banner and his well being. While Rogers actively helps keep an eye on the wellbeing of all his team... Yes sir... Yes sir... I understand sir."

"What are we doing today Pepper?" Tony asked, still trying to persuade Bruce that a banana would be a good breakfast.

"Well I thought we'd go shopping and get you guys some clothes" she answered, looking round at them. They were all dressed as they had been when they'd left SHIELD yesterday afternoon. Except Clint and Natasha, who, after their swimming trip, were both wearing Pepper's Tshirts.  
"And if you all behave, we could do something more fun afterwards" she added with a smile.

"Like what?" Thor asked excitedly

"The arcade?" Tony suggested

"The movies?" Clint added

"The park?" Natasha offered hopefully.

"We'll see. Now all you guys need to go get cleaned up, brush your hair, and we'll get going soon" Maria told them, offering a cup of coffee to Pepper, who gladly accepted it.

Steve took a banana covered Bruce, and the rest of the children followed, leaving the three adults to their coffee.

"Director Fury said he's got scientists coming in from all over the world; Britain, China, France; to try and figure out a way to reverse this. He wants us to keep them for now, and try to not let the public know what's going on. The last thing we need is all the super villains with vendettas gaining knowledge of our current predicament"

"I hate to break this to you guys; but I've been called into a meeting today" Maria admitted.

"What? You can't leave us with them! They already outnumber us!"

"I know Pepper, I'm sorry. I wouldn't go unless it was urgent. I shouldn't be long"

Pepper turned to look at Phil, who had the same look of terror on his face that Pepper was sure she was wearing too.

"We're ready!" Tony grinned from the hallway.


	6. Lots to Do

They got more than a few strange looks as they arrived at the mall. Mostly because of how the children were dressed, or, not really dressed may be more accurate.

After the first shop, and several whispered comments of _"I'd never let my kids out the house dressed like that!"_, they took the kids to the restrooms so they could change. Pepper was glad that she only had to take Natasha and Bruce into the women's, leaving Phil with the other four (albeit the elder four). Natasha managed to dress herself, with minor help from Pepper when she struggled; only able to use one hand. Pepper suspected her wrist was bothering her more that it should be...  
And Bruce, when he wasn't screaming, was a lovely content baby who happily sat still while Pepper dressed him, smiling and muttering to Natasha.

The three waited for Phil and the boys, who emerged not long after. Tony's top was inside out, and Clint's trainers were on the wrong feet. But other than that, they looked much better.

The rest of the shopping trip went surprisingly well. Natasha held Pepper's hand the whole way round the mall, Clint carefully holding Natasha's other. The two of them chatted away. Phil had Bruce, and now they'd bought a stroller, he was satisfied to just sit and observe his surroundings; watching everything and everyone while clutching a toy truck they'd bought for him. The three eldest boys walked a few feet ahead of the others, talking and joking.

They'd bought enough clothes for each of the kids to last months! Along with various pairs of shoes, toys, books, games and films. Pepper had ordered each of them a bed aswell, to save them sleeping on the sofas/floor again; she'd cleared out some of the rooms on the 63rd floor so they could make them into bedrooms for the kids, Phil and Maria.

Once all their shopping had been shipped off to the tower, the group decided to go to the park. It was a nice day and Pepper thought it'd be a good opportunity for the kids to burn off some of their energy.  
Pepper pushed Bruce on the swing, while Clint and Natasha played happily together on the teeter totter. Tony and Thor chased each other up and down the jungle gym, while Steve went with Phil to queue for ice cream.

"So, how you doing Steve?"  
Steve had been the quietest of all the children. Having said very little about himself, only expressing concern for the others. Steve had been invaluable in helping the adults take care of the other kids, especially the younger ones.

"I'm fine thank you sir" his gaze wondered over to where Thor and Tony played. "And yourself?"

"Can't complain" he smiled back fondly.

Phil ordered eight ice creams. Two strawberry (Steve and Bruce), three mint (Natasha, Clint and Pepper), two chocolate (Tony and Thor) and one vanilla for himself. He called Tony and Thor over to help them carry them all back.

"You have a large family!" The woman behind him said, once Phil was left holding just his and Pepper's ice creams; the three kids had gone to sit down. "Are they all yours?"  
He smiled politely. Not really knowing how to answer. He eventually decided to go along with it.

"Yeah they are" he said with a grin.

"You're a lucky guy" she said before turning to order. With that, he turned to join the seven people sat on a large picnic blanket Pepper had brought with her.

Clint was talking so enthusiastically and animatedly that his ice cream melted and fell to the floor before he'd had any of it. He looked upset but smiled brightly as Natasha handed over the remaining half of her ice cream.  
Thor finished off Bruce's ice cream after his own, which Bruce had been mostly wiping on his face and clothes as opposed to eating it.  
"Don't have too much!" Phil warned. "Remember what happened last night?"  
Thor just nodded and smiled.

After several more hours at the park, the group headed back to the tower.

Phil got Bruce to have a nap in his newly assembled crib while the others settled down to watch a film. After several minutes of argument, Pepper had got them to agree to vote on it.  
Finding Nemo was playing on the TV, while Tony sulked in the corner (he'd wanted to watch Wall.E) when Maria joined Pepper in the kitchen.

"I'm so sorry! The meeting ran late, and then I had hundreds of agents wanting to know what happened to the Avengers, their latest mission, their whereabouts..." she trailed off...

"So how was your day?"

"Surprisingly good" Pepper answered with a smile. "We got them all some clothes and toys, and then we went to the park"

"And you've managed to not kill any of them yet?" Maria asked wryly, "or lose any of them?"

"They were actually all really well behaved..." Pepper began, but at Steve's arrival in the kitchen she stopped. She knew the day so far had been too easy.

"Mam... Erm, it's Tony, and Clint, and Natalia..." he began, but Pepper was already on her way to the living room.

Wall.E was now playing on the TV, Thor sat on the sofa watching bewildered as the other three children fought and shouted, a look of confusion on his face. He was clearly torn as to whether he should intervene or not get involved.  
Bruce started to wail from the other room, and Pepper could hear Phil trying to calm him once again.

"WHAT is going on here?" Pepper asked, sounding sterner than she'd expected.

The three children broke apart. Tears appeared on Clint's face, while Tony had a huge scratch bleeding just above his eye.

"He started it!" Clint said angrily, looking over at Tony

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"RIGHT!" Maria interrupted, taking Tony by the hand and leading him away to stop the bleeding.

"You two, with me" Pepper added.

Clint and Natasha sullenly followed Pepper into the kitchen, sitting on the two chairs she pulled out for them.  
Pepper just stood and waited, arms crossed, eyebrow raised.

"Tony changed the film!" Clint finally said. A Look of outrage on his face

"And Tony will be punished for that – you should have come to get me, or Phil, or Maria, we would have dealt with it"

"He called Clint a stupid baby" Natasha added. "He was being a bully"

"And thats why you hit him?"

"I tell him to stop. That it is not true, and he still continue"

"And thats when Natalia pounced on him!" Clint said proudly

"Shush!" Natasha exclaimed, glaring at Clint.

"And you joined in the fight Clint?" Pepper asked, her attention now back on him

He sighed. "I tried to stop it at first, but then Tony hurt Natalia, she has a poorly tummy, the doctor put bandages on it and he hurt her, so I hit him in the face..."

Pepper rubbed her temples; she was never having children she decided then and there in that moment.

Maria and Tony entered the kitchen, an iron man band aid on his forehead.

"Tony has something he wants to say to you two" Maria said, pushing Tony forward.

Staring at the floor Tony muttered "I'm sorry".  
Pepper glared, and the other two mumbled sorry in return.

"Right, all three of you to bed strait after dinner"

"But... But... But" came the response

"No arguments, we said no fighting. That was rule number one. And you three broke it"

"But she started the fight!" Tony cried, a finger pointing accusingly at Natasha.  
Natasha's eyes were still glued to the floor, she looked truly sorry and had gone very silent.

"Yes Tony Stark, but you changed the DVD after we specifically told you not too, and you called Clint names - which breaks rule number two" Pepper responded quickly and firmly.

The three children left the room sulking, joining the others who had resumed watching Finding Nemo in the lounge.


	7. An Early Night

Everyone behaved during dinner. Maria suspected the three children who'd been in trouble were hoping for a reprisal of their punishment if they behaved well enough. Their plan, however failed.

All six children changed into their new pyjamas, Pepper couldn't help but smile as she saw the six Avenger children, dressed in pyjamas adorned with their adult superhero selves. Maria couldn't help but snap a few photos on her camera before Bruce got put in bed.

Maria took Tony by the hand and all but dragged him to his bedroom. He was sharing a room with Bruce who was already in his crib.

"But this isn't fair!" Tony insisted, struggling against Maria's grip.

"Tony, you have to learn to be nice to others, you need to learn to appreciate that other people have feelings. And you need to learn not to annoy people on purpose"

Tony sat on his bed, looking defeated. "I know, I'm sorry" he said again, although at least he sounded like he meant it this time. "I'm not used to having to having to share, it's like having lots of brothers and a sister; it's all new to me. I don't know how to do it" he admitted.

Maria sat down next to him, stroked his hair, and said gently: "It's okay Tony, you don't have to be good at it, we just want you to try a little harder, okay?"

Tony looked up at her, his large dark eyes meeting hers, a small smile appearing on his face. Maria was surprised when he hugged her. Kissing him gently on the head, she turned to leave. She suspected Tony was asleep before she'd even reached the door.

* * *

Phil decided to take Clint and Natasha to bed; giving Pepper five minutes to relax. He walked them down the hallway hand in hand.

"Now, you two were going to share a room. But because of your fighting today; Natalia you will share with Steve, and Clint you'll be sharing with Thor"

Clint started to argue but stopped at the look on Coulson's face. He turned and walked into the bedroom behind him, slamming the door loudly to show his disapproval of their punishment.

Natasha still stood next to Phil, her hand clutching the end of his sleeve. "Please" she whispered. "Please let me go with Clint?"

"Not tonight Natalia. Maybe tomorrow if you both make it through the day without fighting, running off or almost drowning"  
She looked up at him, eyes wide, filled with tears that ran silently down her small face.

He picked her up, and put her in bed, stroking her hair softly to soothe her. "It's just one night Natalia. He's right across the hall, you can see him in the morning" he smiled at her before turning to leave, closing the door behind him.

Phil rejoined the others in the lounge, a documentary about whales was on the TV; although noone seemed to be paying much attention.  
It wasn't long before Thor excused himself to bed, followed not long after by Steve. It had been what felt like a very long day!

"It's strange - its so quiet" Pepper said.

"Its nice" Maria added; trying, and failing, to stifle a yawn.

Although it was only 10 o'clock, Pepper excused herself, and went to bed in her own room. Maria took the guest room, leaving Phil to sleep on the sofa (his temporary bedroom was not yet finished).


	8. Nightmares

Pepper was woken with a start. It was 3.30am and someone was banging urgently on her door.

"What is it?" She called, hoping it wasn't anything major, sleep still clouding her thoughts.

"Mam, I think I need your help" came Steve's uneasy reply. He sounded rattled, instantly putting Pepper on edge.

She opened the door, dressed in one of adult Tony's Tshirts. Steve's face looked up at her; alert and frightened.  
Before Pepper could even ask, she heard it; a scream from down the hall.  
Pepper ran, not waiting for Steve's explanation, skidding into the room which Steve had been sharing with Natasha.

She was still asleep, but her face was screwed up in pain. Sweat coated her face, sticking loose tendrils of hair to her forehead. She was turning and thrashing in her sleep, mumbling, and on occasion screaming.

"I can't wake her" Steve panted from behind Pepper. He was stood in the doorway, a bewildered Tony had too been woken and stood sleepily at his side.

"Natalia, Natalia honey. It's okay. It's Pepper, you're safe" she tried over and over to rouse Natasha, to no avail. She tried everything she could think of, but nothing woke her, and nothing calmed her. Pepper was beginning to panic, she didn't know what to do. Tears rolled down Natasha's face, despite her eyes being tightly closed. Occasionally a murmur of "please no" or "help" escaped her lips, but mostly the words came out in Russian.

Tony quietly disappeared, moments later he reappeared again with Clint by his side.  
At the sight of Natasha Clint seemed suddenly alert and awake. He ran over to her bed, climbing in behind her and hugging her tight. He ignored the pain it caused him as she struggled against him; he took an elbow to the chest and a fist to his chin in the struggle, but Clint just calmly whispered into her ear, gently stroking her back and eventually she calmed. She stopped fighting him, and instead turned to face him; moving tighter into his grasp. She was shivering now, and although her face had relaxed, the tears continues to fall.

Pepper finally felt able to breathe a sigh of relief.

She looked at Clint, who stared back up at her. "Can I stay?" he whispered, gently rocking Natasha back and forth.  
Pepper stood up and nodded. "Thank you" she said, genuinely grateful. She had no idea what she would have done without him.  
As she looked down at the two of them, she was reminded so much of the two friends she had come to love. She never realised how much they really needed each other. Even now, in their child state, Clint had been the only one to truly make Natasha feel safe. They'd have to re-examine the sleeping arrangements for tomorrow.. she definitely didn't want another night like this one!

She left the two of them there, snuggled together; looking just like a big brother comforting his younger sister. Steve, too, went back to bed.

Pepper took Tony's hand as she walked him down the hallway back to his room. "Quick thinking Tony" she said with a smile. That was the Tony she'd fell in love with. The world may see him as uncaring and cold. But she knew the real him. She knew how deeply he cared about her and his five new friends; and that Tony would do anything to ease their pains, and make them feel better.


	9. Life Goes On

It had been several days since Pepper had learnt of Natasha's night terrors. As it turns out, they were a nightly occurrence, but with Clint always there she seemed to be coping fine. Pepper had worried tremendously about whether the nightmares would follow the little girl as she woke, clouding her days aswell as her nights, but she seemed as happy as ever in the mornings, and Pepper learned to sleep a little easier.

Clint's way of thanking Tony for coming to get him that night was to ask Coulson to put the confiscated Wall.E DVD on the next morning while they ate breakfast. Pepper nodded to Phil who seemed unsure, and smiled at the look on Tony's face; shocked and grateful all at once. Clint had smiled his thanks at Tony as he gripped Natasha's hand.

* * *

Life went on; the three adults continued looking after the children at the tower while SHIELD scientists tried desperately to solve the situation. The public was slowly beginning to realise that The Avengers hadn't made an appearance recently; although their focus was quickly refocused after the latest threat was dealt with by the Fantastic Four, all attention on them. For now...

* * *

One morning Pepper was woken by Tony jumping on the end of her bed.

"I think Thor is lying! He says he's 315! That can't be right! He doesn't look that much older than me! And he's definitely not older than Steve and Steve said he's only 12! How old are you Pepper? And Maria? And what about Phil? I bet Phil is the oldest! Are you the youngest? You look the youngest. Am I right Pepper? Also, I thought lying was against the rules?"

"Tony..." Pepper yawned. Natasha had had a particularly restless night resulting in a lack of sleep for Pepper. Phil and Maria both had both slept at home for the first time since all this had happened when they'd gone home late to get some more of their stuff. Pepper had been on edge and anxious all night, the pressure of being the sole adult in the tower with all six of them had really gotten to her, she'd be grateful to have Phil and Maria back! Pepper had spent most of the night traipsing up and down the hallway checking on all six children. She'd finally dosed off at around 4am, and Tony had chosen 6.15 to come and wake her.  
She slowly sat up, allowing a moment for her lights to adjust to the light before grabbing Tony and pulling him into a hug. He giggled as she tickled him. She couldn't resist his cute little face, and with his hair sticking up at odd angles from sleeping – he was just adorable.

"Hello?" Maria called from the other room. "I'm back, and so is Coulson"

"Where did you go?" Natasha asked from the table. She and Clint were sharing a chair, and both eating cereal from the same bowel. Since they'd arrived at the tower, this had been the norm for them both. They even slept in one bed.

"We just went home to get some more clothes" Maria answered with a soft smile. Maria was surprised with herself, at how fond of the children she had become.

"But I thought you resided here?" Thor's echoing voice came from down the hall as he ran to join the others for breakfast.

"No, just Pepper lives here with you guys. Me and Maria live just round the corner. But we'll be staying here with you from now on" Phil explained as Bruce wrapped himself round one of his legs.

* * *

It was about 11 o'clock when Coulson had the bright idea to suggest a game of hide-and-seek to try and occupy the children. Pepper and Maria decided they needed an escape; this wasn't going to end well!

All five boys had run off to hide while Phil slowly counted to a hundred. Natasha strolled shyly to Pepper as her and Maria were putting their jackets on. She tugged at the bottom of Pepper's skirt.

"Please may I come with you instead?" she asked timidly.

"Sure you can sweetie!" Pepper answered, digging Natasha's jacket out from the mound.

"Good luck Phil!" Maria called as the three of them turned to leave.

"97... 98... 99... 100! Ready or not; here I come!" Phil called.  
He started by looking in all of the obvious places; under the beds, behind doors, in the cupboards. But only found Bruce, who'd been hidden in the bathroom. This would be easier if JARVIS had been operational.  
Just then, he heard the elevator beep. 'Damn!' he thought. Why hadn't he specified that they had to stay on this floor of the tower! His face fell as suddenly the meaning of Maria's parting message dawned on him.

* * *

Despite the sheer amount of clothes that had been bought only a few weeks ago, it seemed they were in need of more. Most of Thor's and Clint's pants had holes in the knees. Many of Tony's clothes were covered in grease stains and dust from dismantling/rebuilding various electronic devises. Bruce's all had stubborn food stains on them that just wouldn't wash out. And most of Natasha's clothes were covered in paint, markers, glue or glitter. Although Steve seemed to take care of his clothes much better than the others, he'd recently had a growth spurt; causing all of his clothes to be several inches too short.  
They'd been meaning to go and get some more clothes for a few days; it wasn't until Phil's bright idea of playing hide-and-seek in a 70-storey tower with some of the sneakiest, most mischievous children alive, had the opportunity presented itself.

Pepper and Maria walked, each holding onto one of Natasha's hands, swinging her as they walked. As she laughed and giggled she could have been any five year old child. Pepper found it hard to believe; looking down at her innocent face, her long curly hair in pigtails; that she would grow up to become one of the world's greatest assassins.

After several hours of shopping Maria took all their bags back to the car to free up their hands while they hit the other half of the mall, Pepper stood in a queue to get the three of them some dinner and held Natasha perched on her hip.

"She looks just like you!" an elderly woman cooed. "I can certainly see where she got her looks from!" a broad grin appeared on her face.

Natasha was too distracted looking around from her new higher vantage point to notice anyone had been speaking to either her or Pepper, Pepper was just too stunned to say anything, so she just smiled politely and nodded.

Pepper had never thought of herself as a mother. She'd never seen kids in her life. She was too busy, too driven, her work was too important. And she had enough of caring for Tony to even consider she'd be able to do look after children. But as she looked at Natasha; her eyes wide with awe as she looked around, a huge smile forming on her face as she saw Maria approaching; Pepper felt her heart swell. Maybe she could. Maybe this is exactly what she wanted...

Before she could dwell on the thought any longer, her phone rang. "Pepper Potts" she answered, out of habit. Although she then felt a bit stupid, she knew it would be a personal phone call. Noone from work would dare to phone her, she'd taken the well deserved time off work to help care for the kids.

"Pepper" came Phil's exacerbated voice. "I can't find them! It's been hours! Please..." he stammered. He sounded well and truly out of breath, panic laced his shaking voice.

"You don't have any of them?" Pepper asked back, looking at her watch, trying to figure out exactly how long they'd been missing: 3 hours, 25 minutes.

"I have Bruce, the other four are AWOL"

"We'll be there as soon as we can!"...


	10. Dinner on Phil

The three girls got back to the tower in record time. Natasha was slightly disappointed that they'd not been able to have lunch at the mall, but had been promised that she could have whatever she'd like if she helped them find the boys.

"Easy!" she'd responded with a confident smile.

As they departed the elevator onto the 63th floor, they came face to face with a truly flustered Agent Coulson. Maria's eyes grew wide at the sight of him. He'd never looked so panicked before, and both the women knew he'd faced terrible and horrific things in the past.

"Try not to panic Phil" Pepper instructed him. He was pulling at his tie; finding it difficult to breathe, his face an impressive shade of red.

"We've lost some of them before, remember? That all turned out okay..." Maria offered, as she went to get a glass of water for Phil.

"You mean when Clint and Natasha almost drowned?!" Phil stammered before gulping the entire glass of water and wiping at his face with a tissue.  
Bruce was sat happily in front of the TV watching reruns of The Flinstones; several toys scattered around him.

"Don't worry Phil, we brought re-enforcement's" Pepper said, turning to where Natasha was standing, or at least where she had been standing. "Damn"

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous!" Phil said. "I'm not being the one to break this to Fury! I'm not being the one to tell him that we only have one member of his 'super-team' left! No way!"

"Calm down Phil, we won't have to tell Fury anything because we will find them!" Maria said with determination.

They were in the middle of devising a battle plan; who would take each floor, who'd take Bruce, ideas of where to check, when they heard: "I'd like Mexican for dinner please"  
Natasha stood there; Clint's hand in her own. Tony, Thor and Steve stood behind her. A cheeky smile on her face in response to the looks of amazement each of the three adults gave her.

"But... But... How?!." Phil stuttered; eyes fixed, disbelieving, on the group of children stood in front of him.

"I know all their secret hiding places" Natasha answered simply. Steve and Tony walked over to where Bruce was watching TV, while Thor had started rifling through the kitchen cupboards.

"Again... How?"

"I asked" Natasha answered patiently; shrugging a shoulder, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.  
Her gaze flicked to the TV as The Flinstones ended and Scooby Doo began. She dragged Clint with her as she ran to join the others on the couch.  
The two women looked at Phil. Relief flashed across his face, followed by a smile. "That is just so... so Natasha!"

"I guess we're having Mexican for dinner then" Pepper said, balling the half-completed plan up and throwing it into the trash.

"Yeah, Phil's buying!" Maria laughed as she pulled a take-out menu from the draw. "Hey guys, what d'ya fancy to eat?"


	11. Surprise

It was Coulson's birthday and the kids had insisted on doing something special for 'Uncle Phil', and Pepper and Maria were more than happy to help.

Phil's phone rang, interrupting the game of Candyland he'd been playing with Natasha, Clint and Tony while he'd been bouncing Bruce on his knee.

"Right sir... Yes okay sir... No Bruce, don't touch that! – Sorry sir. I'll be right there sir"

"You have to leave?" Tony asked, disappointment clear on his face.

"But I'm winning!" Clint protested.  
Phil looked around at three sad faces and sighed. I'll be back in a few hours, I promise.

"Pepper!" Phil called, shifting Bruce from his lap with difficulty as Bruce gripped his tie tightly in his little hands.  
Pepper entered the room, Thor on her heels and he was asking loudly "Miss Pepper, I do not understand. What exactly is a zoo?"

"You'll see next week Thor" Pepper answered as she turned to Phil.

"The director wants to see me. He wants a report on each of the children"

"Now?"

"Right now"

"But he called Maria in this morning"

"I know, I'm sorry. I hate to leave you with all six..."

"Oh it'll be fine..." she said; looking round at six angelic faces, hoping they'd stay that way. "Just let me know when you're on your way back?"

* * *

Five minutes later, Maria stumbled through the elevator door; clutching several large bags. "I thought he'd never leave! I've been stood out there for ages!"

"Finally!" Tony exclaimed as he and Clint ran to take the bags from Maria.

Pepper and Steve were already busy in the kitchen; weighing out flour and adjusting the temperature on the stove. Natasha and Bruce were sat at the table making cards; or rather Natasha was making cards, Bruce was scribbling on a piece of paper with a green marker; which had also made it way all over his hands, face and clothes. Thor and Clint were on decorating duty; they were blowing up balloons and hanging banners, while Tony helped Maria wrap the presents the children had made.

"Do you really think he'll like it?" Tony asked as he handed over the present he'd made.

"I think he'll love it" Maria smiled back.

* * *

The presents were wrapped, the cards were written and the cake was done. It had only taken them an hour or two to prepare for Phil's return. It had, however, take several more hours to tidy up. The icing sugar had exploded in the kitchen, coating both Steve and Pepper in the stuff. Natasha had insisted on adding glitter to the cards; the tubes of glitter had inevitably been knocked over by Bruce covering the floor, the table as well as the two children (especially with the amount of glue Natasha was covered with already). Clint and Thor were pretty dirty from climbing up and down various pieces of furniture in a quest to hang the 'Happy Birthday' banners higher and higher. And there were pieces of discarded wrapping paper dotted around the living room from Tony's several failed attempts at wrapping presents, and a few from when Bruce had wondered over and decided to unwrap some himself.

At 5 o'clock Pepper's phone buzzed; Phil letting her know he was on his way.  
The six children and the two women gathered by the elevator, turning all the lights off.

"SURPRISE!" they yelled as Phil walked in, starling him a little too much as he fell over.  
The lights came on, and a look of pure shock and happiness was adorned on Phil's face as he took in the scene in front of him; Pepper holding a cake decorated like Captain America's shield, everyone stood with party hats on, and Maria holding her camera. Thor ran towards him before he could stand, hugging him tightly. The others all joined in until it was more of a pile-on and Phil struggled to breathe. The smile never left his face.

Natasha and Clint dragged him towards the table, while Steve held out a present to him.  
He opened all of his presents with great thanks; homemade cuff links from Tony (a hand-carved 'P' on one and a 'C' on the other), a huge bottle of scotch from Maria ("some nights, you look like you REALLY need it!"), a hand-made photo frame from Natasha ("I used all my blue glitter because blue is your favourite colour"), a Captain America Tshirt from Steve (Steve had been unsure, but Pepper had insisted he'd love it. And he did!: "A Captain America Tshirt from Captain America?! You guys are the greatest!")

The cards came next; and although Natasha had made them, each was made specifically to each person's requested design. Clint's was adorned by two large purple birds, while Tony's was covered in dinosaurs. Natasha's consisted of brightly coloured flowers and Thor's was covered in glittery stars. Phil's eyes welled up as he read the messages inside the cards. Natasha's eyes flicked to Pepper, worried, like they'd done something wrong. Thor turned to Maria to ask why Phil was sad. Phil had to assure them that he was very happy and grateful, not at all sad.

After they'd eaten and had cake, followed by more cake (followed by yet more for Thor); the six children and Phil collapsed on the couch to watch Men In Black.  
By the time Pepper and Maria had done the dishes and were ready to join the others; all seven of them were fast asleep. They hadn't even clicked play on the movie.  
Maria snapped a picture; Phil asleep in the center of the couch, Bruce flat out; snoring slightly, on his knee. Tony to his left; head nestled on Phil's shoulder, Steve next to him; back to back, his head rested on Tony's. Natasha was curled up like a little cat on Phil's right; her head resting on his stomach, Clint behind her, hugging her tightly; his face hidden slightly in her long hair. Thor had fallen asleep sat on the floor; leaning on Phil's leg; his arms wrapped round his calf like it was his teddy bear.

"Oh, that'll look great in Natasha's frame!" Pepper said delightedly.

"I need to make copies of this one! It's too cute!"


	12. The zoo

The children had been promised a trip to the zoo which they'd been **very** excited about. Tony had talked none stop for days about polar bears, Clint had been eager to see the birds they had and Thor was just excited to finally see what exactly a zoo was!  
The day of the trip arrived; the kids so excited that they'd woken at 5. Steve had managed to keep them relatively quiet for 10 minutes, but the excitement had gotten to him too and he'd rapidly lost control of the others.

Clint and Natasha raced down the hallway; crashing loudly into Pepper's door as they were unable to stop. She'd opened her bedroom door yawning to find two children laughing; tangled together on the floor.  
Tony had taken Bruce to Phil's room. He opened the door and let Bruce do the waking while he stood back. Phil couldn't bring himself to yell at Bruce.  
Thor had insisted on waking Maria, and seeing as the other adults had already been woken; Steve agreed to accompany him.

By 6am the kids were all fed and dressed; raring to go, despite the fact the zoo didn't open til 10.  
Coulson put Despicable Me on the TV to distract them while the adults helped themselves to coffee, and by 7 o'clock; all six kids were fast asleep once again.

"Those little terrors!" Pepper said as she covered them with blankets.

"I just hope they're back to normal by Christmas! Could you image the amount of energy and excitement?!" Maria added as she put a pillow gently under Thor's head.

Pepper looked over the sleeping mound of children and couldn't help but think that it'd be nice to see them this way at Christmas. She suspected most of them had never had a traditional Christmas. She knew Natasha never had. And suspected Clint's, Tony's and Bruce's were all sadly similar; spent alone. Steve had probably had Christmases before but they would have been worlds apart from Pepper's own. And as for Thor; who knew?!

At 9.30 they pulled into the relatively quite zoo; despite it being a nice day, most kids were in school at this time of year.

"Right, we have some rules for today to help keep you safe, okay?"

They all nodded back, tho Pepper could see she wasn't keeping their attention. Natasha's gaze had wondered over to the entrance where there was a man selling balloons and Tony was shifting slowly towards a statue shaped like an elephant.

"You do not under any circumstances go anywhere without me, Maria or Phil! You got it?"

"You told us this already! This morning! Remember" Tony moaned. Pepper ignored him and continued

"You do not ever go anywhere with anyone else okay?"

They nodded, but before Pepper could continue Natasha and Clint grabbed one of her hands each and ran towards the entrance. The rest of the group followed.

"Oh so that's how you get her to be quite?"

"Tony!" Maria said, but she couldn't hide the laugh as she did.

They spent the whole day at the zoo; Tony liked the polar bears the most (Maria got the feeling he'd be quite happy to stand there all day), while Natasha liked the snow leopards. Steve's favourite were the elephants and Clint liked the penguins. Thor said that each animal was his favourite; before changing his mind at the next enclosure.  
Thor told the others enthusiastically about the animals on Asgard, gaining some strange looks from passers-by. Phil tried endlessly to get him to lower his voice, but with each new thought Thor seemed to forget about his volume and eventually Phil gave up.

There was almost an incident when Clint and Natasha momentarily lost sight of the group; a security guard had approached them to ask if they knew where their mom was and Clint's response was to kick him forcefully in the shins. Pepper rushed over and offered her apologies (secretly happy that at least someone had been listening to her speech this morning about strangers). Luckily the security guard seemed to melt when Natasha gave him her best puppy dog eyes and he quickly forgave Clint for his violent outburst.

They had a picnic for lunch and went to the 4-D theater and the children's zoo in the afternoon. They'd had their faces painted (Natasha and Clint as tigers, Bruce as a panda, Thor was a dog and Tony had insisted on being Spider-Man. Steve had opted not to get his face painted). And as they left they each chose a gift from the gift shop (Clint chose one for Natasha as she'd fallen asleep in Pepper's arms).

"Well that went better than expected!" the amazement was evident in Maria's voice. "We didn't lose any of them. We didn't have to yell. I think we're turning into pretty good parents!"

"But we're not tho, are we? Pretty soon they'll be back to normal. I'm going to miss them being so small and cute and not having to worry every time they head out the door on a mission" Pepper sighed.

Phil looked at his hands; his home-made by Tony cuff links were in his sleeves. He knew more than anyone the dangers his team faced, but he also knew how much earth needed them. Still, SHIELD hadn't reported any progress as of yet as to how to reverse this, so they still had time to allow their six friends to enjoy a care-free, happy childhood.


	13. Family

Pepper sat, quietly content, watching the six children run manically round the park trying to capture Phil.  
Steve was wheezing heavily, but he refused to give up, Natasha and Clint ran hand in hand and Tony had plasters stuck up and down his legs covering various cuts and scrapes. Thor by far was the fastest; but Phil had, thus far, managed to avoid being caught. And Bruce just toddled along behind the others laughing to himself.

Maria sat by Pepper's side, shouting encouragement to the children, laughing when Thor finally took Coulson down and the others joined them in a pile on the ground. She snapped a few photos; ever since Coulson's birthday she'd kept her camera with her and had loads of great shots.  
Pepper could hear Natasha giggling as Phil tickled her and "no fair that's cheating!" shouted in Clint;s distinct voice. The group eventually broke apart and made its way back over the field to where the two women sat. They offered out bottles of juice and water to the tired and out of breath children.

Pepper pushed hair out of Natasha's face as she sat on her knee. Clint sat by her side; gulping from a bottle of orange juice before handing it to Nat. Steve and Thor had gone straight to Maria.

She handed an inhaler to Steve while nodding to Thor's repeated "did you see me? I caught him! Did you see Maria? Did you see?"

Tony, Phil and Bruce walked back over together; Bruce in Phil's arm and Tonys hand clutched in his free hand.

They'd become a little family over the past month. But it occurred to Pepper that it was if they'd formed three smaller families too. Natasha and Clint had gravitated towards Pepper; they went to her when they needed help or were in trouble, and they felt more comfortable telling her the truth. It was Pepper's bed they went to when they couldn't sleep, and her they cried to when they were hurt.  
Bruce and Tony had latched onto Phil. Tony showed all his inventions to Phil, asking his opinion and taking his advice, Bruce would only go down to sleep if Phil put him to bed; refusing to settle if anyone else even tried.  
And the eldest two had become most comfortable with Maria; Thor laughed at her jokes and made Maria laugh in return, while Steve and her had a lot in common, they talked about the books and artists they both liked.  
Pepper smiled to herself as she held Natasha closer, putting an arm round Clint and kissing him softly on his sweaty forehead.


	14. The Beach

Summer grew closer and before the schools broke up; Pepper, Phil and Maria decided to take the kids to the beach. Between them, Steve and Pepper had taught Clint to swim and Tony was desperate to try out surfing. Natasha; being Russian, and Thor; being from Asgard had never been to a beach before. So one sunny Tuesday morning they loaded up the cars and off they went. It was a long drive and Clint and Tony started asking 'are we there yet' way too early in the journey. After stopping twice because Tony felt sick, and once for Clint to go to the toilet, they finally arrived.

Thor bolted from the car; running straight into the water without even getting changed first. Maria just sighed, it was too late to do anything now; his clothes were already soaked. Pepper grabbed Natasha and Clint before they followed, removing their clothes until they were left in their bathing suits and coated them both in sun tan lotion before they too ran off.  
Bruce was asleep, Phil positioned his stroller in the shade while Tony begged for an ice cream.

The three adults enjoyed some time alone with their books and newspapers; while Steve, Tony and Thor took a surfing lesson. Clint and Natasha happily spent the whole morning carefully creating the biggest sand-castle fort Pepper had ever seen. Bruce spent most of the day stood by the waters edge, laughing hysterically everytime the water lapped at his feet.

Maria got some great photos; Bruce smiling manically by the sea, Natasha and Clint covered in sand by their fort, Steve and Thor on the surf board with Tony in the water; his surf board somewhat in the distance.

The eight of them spent most of the afternoon burying Phil in the sand, Bruce carefully wiping any stray sand from his face while the others piled sand on him. Clint brought buckets of water up from the sea; wetting the sand to make ensure it stuck.  
When Pepper suggested ice cream all the kids lost interest in freeing Phil and ran after her; leaving Phil struggling under a mound of sand.

When the day reached an end the kids were reluctant to leave. They'd all fallen in love with the beach. Pepper had to promise profusely to Clint that they'd come back again before he would get in the car, and Bruce tried to run away from Steve when he'd tried to put him in his car seat.

"Phil, you can't get in my car like that!" Maria said as she turned to him.

He was still covered in sand. "Come on Hill! What do you expect me to do? Ill sit on a towel!"

"No, the sand will get everywhere! The kids are all clean; so go wash off in the sea!"

"But its freezing! And then ill be wet anyway!" She shook her head, he turned to Pepper for support but her car was already full; she just shrugged at him.

A few minutes later Phil re joined the others, dripping wet and shivering. Maria threw a towel out the window at him. He scowled at her but smiled when he heard Tony and Thor giggling from the back seat, Bruce already asleep in-between them. He settled back into his seat as Maria followed Pepper back to the tower, and saw Natasha waving at them from the back sear of Peppers car.

All the kids, apart from Steve, were flat out by the time they got home and it took more than a few journeys to get them all up to the 63rd floor where they'd been staying.

Once the five sleeping children were in bed Phil excused himself for a shower, still shivering from the cold sea water. He left a pile of sand in the bottom of the shower (which Clint and Natasha would find and use to have an impromptu sand fight the next morning) but felt much better.

"So what tomorrow?" He asked, rejoining the two women and Steve in the kitchen.

"I have no clue! I'm running out of ideas!"


	15. Contagious

"Erm Pepper! I think we have a problem!"

"What is it Phil?" Pepper asked, trying to get the mud off Clint's face as he squirmed and tried to escape.

Phil held up Bruce; "he's got chicken pox!"

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure!"

"But he can't. Where would he have caught- Clint! Come back you still have mud in your hair!" She sighed as he disappeared out the room.

"He was playing with those kids in the sand box at the park the other day."

"Oh but if he has them, then the other kids are bound to..."

"Pepper?" Clint had reappeared in the kitchen.

"What is it Clint?"

"I have funny red spots on my arms - look! And they itch R-E-A-L-L-Y bad!"

"Damn it!"

"I wonder if any of them have had them already"

"Knowing our luck; I doubt it!"

* * *

It only took three hours until four of the six children were exhibiting various symptoms. Bruce, Natasha, Clint and Tony all were covered in itchy red rashes. But Natasha also had an extremely high fever and Tony was suffering from a terrible headache. Steve had apparently had the chicken pox when he was a child and Thor seemed to have some sort of Asgardian immunity; the two helped take care of the younger children. Pepper was extremely thankful for this as Maria was away for the day on SHIELD business and Coulson was trying to comfort Bruce; who had become extremely agitated and cried everytime Phil tried to apply calamine lotion, he continually ripped off the mittens Phil had put on him in order to stop him itching and just would not settle anywhere but in Phil's arms.

Pepper was largely preoccupied by trying to keep Natasha in a luke-warm bath; it was the only way to keep her temperature below 39 for any length of time. Natasha had other ideas; she wanted to be in bed watching a film with Clint and the others, but she was far too hot. Pepper, knowing how scared Natasha got when faced with the prospect of going to the doctors, she wanted to get her temperate under control as soon as possible. But if she wasn't better soon; Pepper would be left with no choice; she was dangerously hot.

By the time Maria had gotten back to the tower things weren't going well at all. Tony had locked himself in a dark room, refusing to come out until his headache had passed. Thor had pinned Clint's arms down to stop him from scratching while Steve fed him soup for dinner. Coulson looked well and truly flustered, holding Bruce who was screaming; both covered in pink calamine lotion. While Pepper had resorted to climbing into the bath with Natasha in order to keep her in there; they were both fully clothed and soaking wet; Pepper's arms hugging the young girl tightly while she cried.

Maria felt guilty for having to have left for the day. And went right to work at fixing things. She took Natasha from Pepper, allowing them both to change into some dry clothes; Maria ran off to find an ice pack and sat Natasha on the sofa; ice pack on her head and a bowl of soup to eat.  
Maria then forced Thor to release Clint from his grip; allowing the young child to sit with Natasha while he finished his dinner. Pepper reappeared and started cooking dinner for the five people in the tower who weren't currently ill.

"Can we have spaghetti Pepper?" Thor asked with a smile.

"Sure we can"

"Would you like some help?"

"That'd be great thanks Steve"

Next Maria went to check on Tony. He had the pillow held tightly over his head, curtains closed and light off. Poor kid. Maria handed him some asprin and a drink of water and waited for him to take it before she left.

Lastly: Coulson and Bruce. They did look a sorry pair. But finally Bruce was sleeping, and Phil could go and get changed out of his calamine covered suit.

* * *

Three hours later; Maria slumped exhausted on the couch between an equally exhausted Pepper and Coulson.

"We are so not cut out for this!"

"You're telling me!"

"At least Thor and Steve are still healthy!"

It was true, the three of them couldn't imagine having to take care of six children if they were all ill.

* * *

Tony and Bruce had both gone to sleep in their room, and Clint and Natasha had gone off on the couch after their dinner. It wasn't long until the three adults were fast asleep on the other sofa; Thor took great advantage of this turning the tv over to watch football, while Steve covered them with a blanket, smiling fondly.


	16. Left Alone

It was a Tuesday night when Phil and Maria sat Pepper down and announced they had both been called into work tomorrow; Pepper was truly unimpressed.  
Originally she was supposed to have just a week off work, but when all this had happened she'd taken 'extended leave' with little explanation to her staff as to why. Fury had ensured her that they'd make other arrangements; but two months later and she was still the primary carer for the six children. Honestly, she did't mind all that much; they'd settled into a routine with her, and she loved spending time with them more than she'd ever admit to anyone! And that included the six of them once they returned to their adult selves; if SHIELD ever did make a breakthrough on that front!  
She stared at them in disbelief; at least two adults had been with the kids at any time ever since 'the incident'. It was agreed anything less would be unmanageable; even with Steve to help. But here they were, telling Pepper that they were both leaving her alone with all of them.

"But... But... You can't"

"I'm sorry Pepper, I really am..."

"Are you really Maria?" she asked sarcastically, knowing the other woman spoke the truth but that fact didn't make her like the reality of her situation any more.

"I am! But SHIELD thinks they may have some useful information and Fury wants to talk to me about it while medical want an update from Phil on each of the children"

"Can't you take some of them with you? Just Clint and Thor, or Tony and Natasha?" she asked hopefully, knowing exactly what the answer would be.

"We can't Pep, i'm sorry; we're gonna be in meetings all day, besides, you're just trying to get rid of the troublesome ones!" She couldn't deny it; it was true. she smiled fondly at the four trouble makers of the group as they coloured quietly at the table; knowing the calm wouldn't last.

* * *

The weather had gone rapidly downhill now it was autumn and trying to occupy six children indoors; especially a group which included Thor, Tony Stark, Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff; which were all pretty restless as adults, was becoming increasingly difficult. It was harder and harder to get them to go to bed on time as they burnt off less and less energy during the day. They'd soon realised how easy they'd had it when they could just take them to the park for the day. Phil had even resorted to letting them use the gym a few days previously after several of the kids had been up way past midnight. This trip resulted in both Thor and Clint breaking some of the machines and equipment, and Steve spraining his ankle, now needing crutches to get around. This prompted Pepper to call the gym completely off-limits.

* * *

On Wednesday morning Pepper awoke to six kids; already having had their breakfast, watching Monsters Inc on the large TV in the lounge. She thought fondly of Maria and Phil; having done something to make her day a little easier, that was until she found the note they'd left:

_'Pepper,_  
_Bruce hasn't been well – out of tylenol. Also, in desperate need of food – cupboards empty!_  
_Thanks, P & M._  
_Ps. Natasha's coat is missing, think we left it at cinema yesterday, and one of Steve's crutches has snapped in half (We suspect Thor!)_  
_Also, good luck! We owe you one!'_

Pepper exhaled, unimpressed, blowing her fringe out of her face. Well that planned her day for her...


	17. Poor Pepper

It took a lot of bargaining on Pepper's part to coerce six children into spending the day food shopping and running errands. She'd promised Tony he could disassemble her laptop once they'd finished, and she'd agreed to let Clint stay up after bedtime to watch some bird documentary he desperately wanted to see.

First of all they went to the pharmacy to get some Tylenol for Bruce; he was burning up and was incredibly fussy. Thankfully, he dosed off once he'd been given another dose.

Next they went to replace Steve's broken crutch; to much amusement of the hospital staff as the stories of how exactly it'd broken in the first place got more and more elaborate each time one of the kids recounted it.

After discovering Natasha's jacket was in fact not at the cinema; they went to the theater, indoor play center, the library and the museum before giving up and going to the department store to buy a new one.

Pepper couldn't wait to finally get home; put a film on and allow the kids to occupy themselves for an hour or so and give herself a bit of time to go through the hundreds of emails she needed to respond to. With one last errand to run she hoped she was home-free.  
Steve was tired of struggling with his crutches so sat on the bench near the entrance of the store and pulled out his latest book to read.

Bruce had become unsettled again and was whining; Pepper could feel a headache steadily growing.  
Clint had climbed in the front of the shopping cart; taking up half the room for the food in the process, but it kept him quiet so Pepper allowed it. Natasha skipped happily alongside him, wearing her new jacket.  
This left Tony and Thor trailing behind; talking enthusiastically about the basketball game they'd seen the day before.

Pepper's aim had been to get in and out as quickly as possible, but that proved much harder than initially thought.  
Thor tried to sneak several extra boxes of pop tarts in the cart while Pepper had been distracted telling Natasha that she didn't need any more paints, and Tony gradually slipped more and more tools into the cart.  
Bruce grabbed at anything and everything within reach; successfully knocking over several displays as they progressed round the store.

Pepper was on the receiving end of more than a few sympathetic looks from parents and staff alike, as well as a couple of disapproving ones.

They'd gotten about halfway round the store and Bruce was in floods of tears; obviously feeling ill and fed up, Clint was asking question after question about things Pepper had no clue how to answer (the topics included British monarchs, space, ancient Egypt and the ice age). In the moments she'd taken her eyes off him; Thor had picked up a soccer ball and lost control of it; chasing after it he ran straight into a member of staff sending her flying before the soccer ball took out one of the shelves; sending bottles of pop rolling in every direction.

Pepper could nothing but stare in disbelief at the chaos unfolding before her. Her mouth open and eyes wide as she took in the scene before her; the one good thing was that the disruption had quietened Bruce and Clint for the moment.  
She turned hoping to head quickly to the check-out with the few groceries she had managed to get when she realised she was two children down. 'When will I ever learn?'

Natasha normally didn't go anywhere without Pepper or Clint, and her absence concerned Pepper; mainly because she suspected Tony would be a worse influence than Clint ever was!  
She spun the cart, grabbing Thor on her way, who had apologised over and over to the poor woman he'd ran into. If she knew Tony and Natasha she knew one thing was certain; they'd be getting into trouble in no time.

Ten minutes later and Pepper had given up with her shopping; they could live on take outs for the next six months as far as she was concerned, this was so not worth it!  
A sniveling Bruce was in her arms and she'd sent Thor and Clint to wait with Steve as she frantically searched the store. Tony was mischievous and Natasha was sneaky; a deadly combination, especially after all the destruction her group had already caused today.

"Erm Ms? You look like you've lost something?" A young girl, only perhaps 16, was stood looking at Pepper.

"Yeah, two kids. A skinny, dark haired boy and a little girl; curly red hair, bright green eyes. Probably both wearing mischievous grins, you seen them?"

"Yeah, they're cute kids! They yours? There were by the baking stuff when I saw them"

"Thanks! Which way?"

Pepper followed the direction the girl had pointed in and soon heard the familiar laughter of Tony and Natasha.  
She saw the store manager headed the same direction. Damnit. What could possibly be worse than what Thor had done?!  
Hurriedly she rounder the corner to see the two familiar figures, along with as several other children, stood in the middle of a cloud of flour. Broken packets littered the ground; the kids covered in white power. Who knew that Tony and Natasha together were almost as bad as Natasha and Clint?! She'd have to remember that for the future!

Pepper gestured at them manically and they ran towards her before the manager arrived. They heard the manager yelling at the other kids as they made their escape. Getting yelled at by an angry store manager was so not what Pepper needed today.

During the drive home Pepper decided two things:  
1) None of them could ever return to that store, ever again!  
2) Tomorrow Maria and Phil could have the kids, it was her turn to have a day off!

Once home she allowed the other kids to disperse before tackling the issue at hand; an hour later and Tony and Natasha were finally flour free, mostly, and had both insisted to Pepper that they'd merely stumbled upon the other kids having a flour fight and gotten caught up in the middle when they'd tried to pass. How much of this Pepper believed she wasn't sure, but Phil and Maria were due back any minute now and she decided to let it slide. Just this once...

With that she threw herself on the couch and closed her eyes; awakening a small while later to find Natasha curled up asleep by her side and a cup of tea and a note written by Tony: _'We're sorry'_


	18. Promises

On their return, having heard from Steve exactly what Pepper had been through that day, Maria and Phil felt incredibly guilty. They cancelled all their upcoming meetings and told Fury that if it were an emergency; one of them would come in, but never both at the same time. Six was just too many to handle, especially these six kids!

* * *

The next morning Natasha crept into Maria's room, waking her up at 5 am to ask if she would help her make a cake for Pepper before she left. She'd been booked a three day spa break as a thank you/sorry from Maria and Phil; and was due to leave right after breakfast.

Maria had started to say no, but the look in the little girls eyes made her rethink her answer and drag herself out of bed. Pepper's absence would be hardest on Natasha; they'd become incredibly close over the past two months.

Maria had seen more than once the way Pepper had rocked her back to sleep when the nightmares had become too much, how she'd accepted the name Natasha instead of Natalia from Pepper alone; long before she'd allowed herself or Coulson to call her by the other name, and how Natasha gripped hold of Pepper's locket that she'd given her that first night; when Pepper had promised her that she was safe. Maria suspected that was the first time the little girl had heard those words.

So with a gentle smile Maria hauled herself from under the covers; taking Natasha's hand in hers, and made her way to the kitchen.  
It was still dark out, and everyone else was asleep so they worked quickly and quietly. The cake came out the oven shortly after and was left to cool while the two of them had breakfast, then it was time to decorate it.

Maria was touched that Natasha had come to her, rather than go to Coulson, to help her with her little project.  
When The Avengers had first been regressed everyone had assumed Natasha and Clint would gravitate towards Coulson; he'd been the pairs handler for years, but they'd surprised everyone when they'd become most comfortable with Pepper. Though, thinking about it, Maria thought it probably made sense; the two assassins had had perhaps the toughest childhoods of anyone she'd ever met; gravitating towards Pepper, who was the gentlest and kindest of the three adults, was probably just what they'd needed.  
While Tony had become attached to Coulson rather than Pepper, his girlfriend, probably craving the positive male role model and influence he sorely lacked due to his own fathers absence.

* * *

When Pepper emerged early that morning from her room, suitcase packed by her door, there were already two people up. Natasha ran towards her, grabbing her hand and dragging her down the hall.

"Come look what we did!"

"Okay, okay. Slow down" she said with a laugh.

When she entered the kitchen, there was a cake centered on the table; covered in pink icing and written in purple on top in shaky writing (Natasha had insisted on doing it herself) read: 'To Pepper I love you! Nat xxx'  
Pepper felt herself welling up, and for a moment she couldn't look down at Natasha for fear of bursting into tears. Maria gave her a knowing smile from the corner and excused herself from the room.  
Pepper scooped the girl up into her arms and gave her a hug "I love it!" she whispered into her ear; her voice high with the effort not to cry.  
Natasha's arms wrapped tightly round Pepper's neck as she sobbed "I'll miss you"

"I'll miss you too sweetheart!" Tears ran freely down her face now as the emotion became too much. "But I'll be back before you know it! And we'll talk everyday on the phone?"

"You promise?"

Pepper knew how much the word 'promise' meant to the child in her arms, and she never used it lightly where Natasha was concerned.

"I promise" she replied, squeezing her just a little tighter.


	19. A Short Vacation

Pepper found it odd having so much time to herself. The silence was almost too much.  
By lunchtime the first day she'd finished her book, been swimming, had two massages, walked round the spas elaborate hotel aimlessly and called home twice. She sat in reception and sighed, this used to be a common occurrence for her; a day off in the spa, nothing to do, no one to see, but it felt so alien to her now; too used to the chaos caused by looking after six kids.

"Pepper? Pepper Potts? No way! That can't be you!"

Pepper looked up in surprise to see Amanda Pryce stood in front of her; she forced a smile on her face and hoped it looked convincing.

"What are you doing here?!" she asked in her shrill voice, Pepper hadn't had to listen to her speak in almost eight years and she really didn't miss it.

"Oh, you know, just a few days off" she answered quickly, not wanting to hang around to make small talk with the woman who made her years at high school miserable.

Pepper stood to leave, desperate to avoid any further conversation as she retreated to her room to ring the kids again.

"Well, see you again!" Amanda called behind her as she made her escape.

Maria answered the phone on the third ring "Pep, you're supposed to be relaxing, we're all fine. Trust us"

"I know I know, I just ran into someone I could have really done without seeing... Ever again"

"That bad huh?"

"Yeah, definitely that bad"

"Ex-boyfriend or school bully?"

"Just a girl from high school, it shouldn't get to me so bad, but when I see her I revert to a shy geeky teenage girl with braces and a lisp that no one wanted to be friends with"

"No way, braces? I always figured you'd have been one of the popular ones"

"Nowhere near, college was better for me. But high school; I hated it!"

"You'll be fine! You're hugely successful; rub that in her face next... Clint! No don't... Tony what did I say about... Damn it! Coulson! Would you come get Tasha before-"

There was an enormous crash that could be heard down the line before the phone went dead.  
Well that had done nothing to make Pepper feel any better.

* * *

She passed the rest of the afternoon doing some online shopping; most of it stuff for the kids, followed by a bath before going down for dinner.  
Most of the diners in the restaurant were couples, so Pepper chose a quiet table in the back where she could try and forget the fact that her boyfriend was currently a nine year old. It was too weird if she thought about it for too long.

Pepper was halfway through a glass of wine and still looking at her menu when someone appeared next to her; she turned to tell the waitress that she hadn't decided yet but lost all words when she saw Amanda stood smiling down at her. She searched desperately for an escape; but as she was looking at the menu she clearly hadn't eaten.  
Amanda didn't wait for an invite and sat herself down in the spare chair

"I assume you're dining alone" she stated "I thought it would be nice if we had a catch up"

"Hummm" was all Pepper could muster without losing it and telling what she was really thinking at the prospect of having dinner with her.

"So, what are you up to now?" Amanda asked smiling at her over the menu.

Remembering what Maria had said; Pepper was about to launch into her life after high school, smugly able to say that ran a successful company and was dating none other than Tony Stark when her phone began to ring.

"Excuse me" Pepper said before answering.

"Hello. Hi baby girl! How are you? Oh really? Wow. I want to hear all about it, but Tasha sweetie, can I phone you back soon, before you go to bed? Yeah? Okay, I'll speak to you soon. Love you too. Goodbye"

"Was that your daughter?"

"Yeah it was" – well what else was she supposed to say?

"No way! How old is she?"

"She's five"

"Do you have any others?"

"Yeah, I have a little boy too. He's seven" she said fondly.

"Oh precious! What are their names? Do you have a photo?"

"Clint and Natasha" Pepper answered as she handed over her Stark phone; the background picture showed six smiling faces adorned in party hats. It had been taken before Phil had returned the evening of his surprise party.

"Oh she looks just like you! Only prettier; she won't need braces like you did. Which one is your son?"  
Pepper pointed to Clint; on the photo he had his arms wrapped round Natasha and their heads were pressed together, it was truly believable that they were brother and sister.

"They're so cute! Who are all the others?"

"Nephews" Pepper stammered, she hadn't really thought about that bit. "Do you have any kids?" she asked, eager to move the conversation on.

"No, no kids. I'm so busy running my own fashion company and Samuel, my husband, he's a plastic surgeon. We haven't really had time" But the way the other woman still clutched Pepper's phone, staring longingly at the children on the screen told Pepper that that wasn't really the truth.

They fell into silence as the minutes passed, and it wasn't until the appearance of the waitress that Amanda handed the phone back over.  
They ordered and ate, conversation came more easily now. Amanda had showed a weakness; Pepper had seen the jealously in her face when she'd learnt about Clint and Natasha, and although it wasn't true, although they weren't actually her kids; it had reminded her that Amanda was just human, and Pepper had decided not to let her get to her anymore.  
They each had a three course meal, and went to the bar afterwards for drinks. It was gone midnight when Pepper found herself back in her room. It was such a long time since she'd had adult company (other than Phil and Maria), it felt nice; having a break, but she found herself eager to get back; to see the kids and become emerged in a world of chaos and mischief once again. Though she knew she'd regret thinking that next time they had a day like they'd had yesterday.

* * *

It was 3 am when Pepper's phone woke her.

"Hello?" she answered, eyes still closed in the dark.

"Pepper I was scared. You didn't phone. You said you would..." The voice was a whisper, barely audible.

"Tasha? Oh sweetie i'm so sorry. I really am. I ran into an old friend, and time just got away from me..." she could hear quiet sobbing at the end of the phone, looking at the display she realised Natasha had rang from Phil's phone.

"Tasha, did you have a nightmare?"

"Um hum"

"Tasha, is anyone else awake? Is anyone with you?"

"No"

"Okay, Natasha, listen. Wake Clint up okay, and stay there. I'm going to come get you."

"But..."

"No buts Nat, i'll be right there" And with that, she hung up and dialed a taxi.


	20. Reunited

45 minutes later and she was back in the tower, anxiously riding the elevator up to the 63rd floor.  
Clint and Natasha were waiting for her on the couch; Clint's arms wrapped protectively round the smaller child, one hand running gently through her hair. He smiled at Pepper, releasing his grip of Natasha as she threw herself into her arms still sobbing.  
Clint turned to leave; taking himself back to bed, knowing his best friend was in safe hands.

Pepper rocked Natasha back and forth and whispered "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" over and over in her ear as she sat in down. The sobs finally subsided and her breathing steadied, Pepper wiped the remaining tears from her face and asked; "Did Phil know you used his phone?"

"No" Natasha admitted sheepishly. "I didn't want to wake him"

"Was it a bad nightmare?"

She nodded. One hand was clutched around the locket Pepper had given her, the other was clutching Pepper's sleeve; as if she were afraid to let go in case she left again.

"It's okay, I'm here now, go back to sleep"

* * *

The next morning Steve woke Maria; bringing her a cup of coffee. Bruce was crawling round her bedroom floor and she could hear Tony and Thor talking from the corner; watching a hockey match on her TV.

"What are you all doing in here exactly?" she asked as she sat up.

Steve offered her a grin; "Pepper and Natasha are asleep in the lounge. I didn't want the others to wake them. They look like they had a tough night"

"Wait, Pepper is here?"

"Yeah"

"Why?"

"You got me" he answered with a shrug of the shoulders.

Coulson slipped in through the door, passing a plate piled high with toast round the boys before offering it to Maria.

"Have you seen my phone? I plugged it in to charge last night, I'm sure of it..."

"No, not seen it. Boys have you seen Phil's phone?"

Several echoes of 'no' came from Tony and Steve (and Bruce who copied them), Thor, with a mouthful of food just shook his head.

"Hey Steve, who'd you say was in the lounge?" Maria asked again

"Just Pepper and Natasha, they're asleep in the arm chair. I put a blanket on them because Natasha was shivering"

"Well where's Clint?"

Phil's eyebrows shot up as he suddenly realised he was missing.

"He's still asleep too, in his and Natasha's bed though, not the lounge"

Maria got out of bed and ruffled Steve's blond hair "Thanks kid! I dunno what we'd do without you!" shooting a joking 'you're useless' glance to Phil over Steve's head.  
She earned a grateful smile from Steve before leaving to have a shower.

* * *

Pepper was woken by Natasha gently stroking her cheek; relief flashed across the little girls face when she realised Pepper didn't seem angry with her.

"I'm sorry that..." The young girl stopped talking when Pepper put her finger to her lips.

"It's okay, I was going to come back this morning anyway, I missed you guys too much" she said with a smile, Natasha's arms flung round her neck and she hugged her tightly.

"Natasha..." she began, Pepper felt Natasha stiffen slightly at the turn in conversation, repositioning herself so she was sat further away; she patiently waited for the telling off she'd expected since she'd rang last night. Pepper swept Natasha's hair back to get a better look at her; eyes still fixed on the ground. Pepper knew how hard it was for Natasha to talk about her childhood and had avoided prying too much into the nightmares of her child-self. It was getting too much; she couldn't stand another night being woken by her screams and cries. It broke Pepper's heart every time. But the sad expression on her face made Pepper reconsider, and changed tact: "You want some pancakes?"

"Yes please" she answered, a grin growing wide on her face.

"Go get Clint then"

"Okay... CLINT!"

She watched as Natasha skipped down the hallway; her pyjamas adorned with Toy Story characters. She returned a moment dragging a still-sleepy Clint with her, wearing a matching pair of pjs. They took their usual shared seat at the table and told Pepper all about the events of the previous day; they'd watched The Incredibles (which that had both loved!), they'd played chutes and ladders twice with Thor and Steve, which Clint had won both games, then Maria had taught them to play cards. (They didn't tell Pepper about the game of tag that broke out with Tony while the adults had been cooking dinner which resulted in the DVD cabinet being knocked over).

* * *

Pepper insisted that the nine of them went bowling that afternoon.  
Thus far; she had avoided telling Phil and Maria why she'd appeared two days early, although she assumed they'd probably guessed.

There were too many of them to all play on one lane; so they booked three lanes next to each other; but still played it as one, big game. The six kids supported each other; cheering each other on and offering advice on how to improve. Tony and Clint were especially good; Tony even managed to beat Phil to the top spot. Even Bruce had a go, with some help, and enthusiastically cheered when he knocked down some of the pins.  
Maria took them to her favourite cafe for cake afterward and Phil treated them to some new DVDs before they left for home. Overall it had been a great day; and it made Pepper realise that she never wanted to spend another day away while The Avengers were still children. She missed them too damn much!


	21. Revenge

Phil had organised to take Tony and Thor to a baseball game; they'd been following the Yankees games on the TV and were both extremely excited to see them play the Detroit Tigers. The other kids had been offered tickets but declined the offers; none of them were particularly interested in sport so Maria and Pepper had offered to take them to the aquarium instead.

* * *

Phil had treated both the boys and himself to new Yankees shirts for the day; Maria suspected he was more excited than the kids, but even she had to admit that they looked absolutely adorable in their matching shirts. Even if Thor had spilled egg down his before they'd even left the tower!  
They arrived at the stadium in plenty of time so they could look around properly, visit the merchandise shops, take some photos to show the others and grab some hot dogs and popcorn before finding their seats. They had a great view of the game and the atmosphere was phenomenal. Neither of the kids had ever been to a baseball game before and they both decided it was definitely something they wanted to do again! By the end of the game the Yankees won; Tony and Thor were stood on their seats cheering and celebrating.

"Can we go again Phil? Please please please?"

"Yeah Phil, can we? It was so good! Please can you bring us again?"

"How about football or basketball or maybe hockey next time?"  
Both boys nodded enthusiastically as Phil promised to take them to other sporting events in the future. It seems they'd found something they enjoyed almost as much as causing havoc!

* * *

Pepper and Maria took the other four children to the aquarium that morning, each of them were promised that if they behaved; they could chose something from the gift shop on their way out. Clint was extremely excited to see that they had penguins and Natasha liked the sea otters. Bruce squealed in delight as the fish swam closer to the glass where he was leaning, while Steve had taken up drawing and brought his new sketchpad along with him to draw some of the animals.

It had been a lovely day up until lunchtime. They were sat in the food court enjoying their lunch when Pepper looked up to see a familiar face headed her way. What were the chances?! Eight years she'd gone without seeing this woman and now twice in two weeks! She'd pretended not to see her while she whispered their cover stories to the table; the kids were more than used to playing along with them by now.

"Pepper! Hi again!"

"Hi Amanda, fancy seeing you here"

"Yeah! Small world eh? We're just here for Samuel's niece's birthday. It's all very boring really! And then I saw you sat over here and I thought yay! I just had to come over and meet your kids! What were their names again? Carl and Natalie?"

"Clint and Natasha. Guys, say hi to Amanda, I used to go to school with her"  
They both obliged, but Pepper could see the cogs ticking in Natasha's brain, she'd worked out that Amanda was the reason Pepper hadn't rang to say goodnight last week, and Clint wasn't far behind her.

"They're both so cute!" Amanda exclaimed, squeezing Natasha's cheek "And these must be your nephews?"

"Yes, this is my sister Maria and her boys Steve and Bruce"

Maria and Steve smiled; making polite small talk to her, until Bruce spilled his drink and it went dangerously close to Amanda's, no doubt ridiculously expensive, white dress. She said her goodbyes and turned to leave; at what happened next Pepper didn't know whether to laugh or cry:

Amanda tuned and fell onto the table behind them, it was empty of people but their dirty plates remained; covering Amanda in left over beans, tomato sauce and half a pint of coke. One side of the table collapsed; buckling under her weight sending Amanda, still trying to regain balance, headfirst into a member of cleaning staff, knocking over his bucket of dirty water before landing on her back in the puddle. During the commotion Amanda had flung her handbag which was now sinking to the bottom of the sea lion enclosure. The whole cafeteria applauded and laughed loudly; Pepper was the only person in the whole place who was stood up; trying desperately to keep a straight face. Her eyes glanced to Natasha and Clint who were, not so subtly, giving each other a high five.

Amanda's husband had appeared by now; as Pepper watched him help her up she realised why she'd fallen, and so dramatically at that. Clint and Natasha had, somehow, and god knows when, tied her shoes together. Part of her wanted to thank them, though she knew she really shouldn't (especially not in front of Maria).  
Pepper waved at her as Amanda glared in her direction while being escorted out of the food court. Well, at least Pepper didn't have to worry about having to speak to Amanda Pryce ever again!

Pepper treated Clint and Natasha to two presents each from the gift shop.


	22. The Trifecta

Fury had been on the phone literally begging and pleading Coulson and Hill to come into the office; there were several issues which needed to be sorted and Fury just didn't trust anyone else to handle these types of situations.

After exhausting all of their options; including asking the Fantastic Four to come and help Pepper out, they'd agreed to go in; only if they could take some of the kids with them. Fury, although initially reluctant, had agreed on the grounds that they leave the most troublesome and mischievous ones at home. That worked out well; meaning Clint and Natasha could stay at the tower with Pepper. At least; that was the original plan.

* * *

i. **Maria, Steve and Thor**

Maria walked out of the elevator onto the bustling floor; eyes darting round the room to try and find an agent who looked like they knew what they were doing.

"You, Jones?"

"Agent Cartwright mam"

"Cartwright what's going on?"

"We're in the process of tracking a strange energy signal mam, it keeps shifting, but wherever it appears; people are disappearing. We can't predict where it's going, but so far it's been to the mall, the underground and a hospital; estimates of missing people are at around 90 at the moment mam."

"Great, if only Banner were here!"

An alarm sounded on the system and Maria spun round; Steve and Thor were stood right behind her, so close she almost fell over them. They were silently taking in everything that had been said as well as all the activity around them. She smiled brightly at them as if she'd just remember that they were there; watching as agents in the background dismissed the disruption as a 'false alarm'.

"Boys, do you want to go to the cafeteria and get some lunch and hot chocolate?"

"I think I'd rather stay here actually" Steve answered with a smile as Thor's gaze continued to scan the room.

"Okay, but can you do me a favour and just behave? Please?" Maria's tone was almost desperate.

"Don't we always?" Thor asked; the serious tone to his voice concerned Maria but she smiled gently at them. She handed Steve his sketch pad and Thor a portable games console that she'd grabbed on leaving the tower and pointed to an empty desk in the corner, kissing both of their heads as they turned to walk away. She turned back to Agent Cartwright; "Right, compile me a report; I want to know everything about this thing; where it was, how long, how many people disappeared from each site, who disappeared, who didn't..."

Steve and Tony watched in awe from the desk in the corner, both far too intrigued by what was going on to be distracted by the things Maria had brought to occupy them. They were most interested in watching Maria; this was a different person to the one from the tower; she spoke in a different voice, held herself different, she was so much more focused and in control; the agents around her were filled with respect or fear, or possibly a little of both.

"Excuse me" Steve interrupted a passing agent carrying a pile of paperwork, "Please could you explain to us what exactly is going on?"

An hour later and Maria was mostly through the huge pile of information which had been delivered to her; most of it was pretty useless, except the fact that she'd figured 30 people had been taken from each location; ten men, ten women, five boys and five girls. Ages varied, as did race, social stature, health, religion and all other aspects of the people, but always the same quantities.  
She looked up to report the pattern to one of the other agents working on the case, or supposedly working. As she looked around the enormous room; she saw piles of paper work, endless computer screens showing the same shield logo as their background and lots of empty chairs. Cartwright was still there, she'd always been a bit of a suck-up, but other than that the only person in the room was Tom; the janitor.

"I'm sure I had a team of 15 agents when I arrived just an hour ago?"

"I think they took Steve and Thor on a tour of the place, you know, seeing as how they technically both have security clearance"

"They what?! We now have 150 missing people and my team of agents have stopped researching to take two child superheroes on a tour of a top secret base? I don't believe it!"

"To be fair to them; those kids are pretty adorable!"  
Maria rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes trying to calm the headache that she felt forming. They may be cute; but they certainly know how to be a distraction!

When Fury found most of Hill's team wandering the corridors with Steve and Thor (both carrying various items of food and drink from their recent visit to the cafeteria) he couldn't even bring himself to yell. He just led them back to their work space in silence; taking Maria aside when he reached her he quietly asked;

"What happened to leaving the difficult ones at the tower?"

"Believe me sir, we did!" He used his one eye to look over the two children stood before him; they looked up at him and smiled innocently.

"You two, no distracting my agents until this crisis is dealt with, deal?"

"Deal"

Just then there was a loud bang and the whole floor shook...

* * *

ii. **Phil, Tony and Bruce**

Coulson was a little disappointed to learn that he'd been called in not to work on an active mission, like Maria, but to fill in some 'emergency paperwork' regarding the mission The Avengers had been on when they'd been de-aged. Like they hadn't been over this a thousand times already! Phil himself hadn't actually been there at the time. He'd been a few blocks away, connected to his team via the comm units they all had; all had seemed to be going well. Natasha had reported taking down the target while Steve had rounded up his men ready for questioning. Suddenly, the comm units had gone down and by the time Phil and the back up team had made it to the last known location of his team; they were gone. He'd searched and searched for hours but never once given up; eventually he found Steve protectively stood in front of the other team members. Phil could remember the shock and relief that hit him like a wall; they weren't dead, that's what he'd feared the most, and thankfully it wasn't true. But the state of his team was a little more than shocking. He'd contacted Fury and Hill who refused to believe him, at least until he sent them a picture on his phone. Coaxing the six children out from their hiding place was difficult, especially where Natasha was concerned. She was so injured when he'd first found her. Phil smiled fondly as he remembered how Clint had careful positioned himself between Coulson and Natasha that first meeting, taking her hand and promised to look out for her. she'd scowled of course, Natasha didn't believe she needed looking after, but it gave her confidence to know that someone was on her side...

Shaken from his thoughts; Coulson was knocked to the floor with the force of the blast; looking around frantically for the kids he located Bruce first; he was fine. Phil could see him in the arms of the medic who had been checking him over after Tony had accidentally left some toxic looking green solution off the work bench in the lab and Bruce had drank it; it turned out Dr. Matherson liked lime juice and drank out of beakers if there were not clean glasses.

"Tony? Tony!" Phil called making his way through the thick black smoke coming from the doorway to Matherson's lab.

He heard Tony cough, timidly and quietly he whispered "I'm sorry Phil! That wasn't supposed to happen!"

"No, I don't suspect it was"

Fury ran in and stopped behind Phil, taking in the scene in front of him; nine year-old Tony Stark stood in the middle of a half destroyed, state of the art, medical research lab. Smoke billowing out through the door and the now shattered window, Fury decided he didn't even want to ask.

"Again, what happened to leaving the difficult ones at the tower?"

"Trust me sir, we definitely did!"

* * *

iii. **Pepper, Clint and Natasha**

Pepper, Clint and Natasha had a nice quiet morning in the pool (though Clint and Natasha were still not allowed near the diving board), they had grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and were just settling down to watch Shrek when Pepper's phone rang. Her first thought was that it would be Phil or Maria asking her to come and collect the other kids from SHIELD, and she was half tempted to ignore it. In the end her conscious won over and she answered her phone.  
"

Miss Potts, I'm glad I finally got hold of you! The limo will pick you up in an hour; will you be at the tower? Do you require any extra tickets? I'm assuming Tony won't be joining you this year, I read something about The Avengers going on an extended mission in Bolivia or was it Botswana? ..."

"Ben, slow down. What's going on? Why exactly is there a limo picking me up?"  
Clint and Natasha had both picked up on the conversation, turning to watch her over the back of the couch.

"It's the benefit tonight Miss Potts, didn't you get the memos?"

"Damn, that's tonight?"  
She looked over at two impatient faces waiting to watch the film.

"I can't, I can't Ben. Cancel the limo and please pass on my apologies..."

"But Miss Potts! You CAN'T miss the benefit; Stacey in PR has been setting it up for months. It's hugely important to both out benefactor and out investors that you be there! It'd be a disaster without you!"

"My niece and nephew are in town, there's no one to have them... I'll just have to miss it this year Ben, I'm sorry..."

"Bring them with you! It'll be great press! I bet they're cute as a button!"

"I really don't think that's a good..."

"Nonsense, it'll be great! You'll see! See you in an hour!"  
And with that he was gone. Pepper sighed and turned to face the kids.

"We're not watching Shrek are we?" Natasha asked disappointedly.

"You have to go to work too don't you?" Clint asked sadly.

"I do have to go to work; you're right, but if you guys want to, you could come with me?"  
This did nothing to brighten the children's moods.

"It's not work like Phil and Maria work, it's a big party, and we're going to get dressed up and go in a limo"  
Now the kids looked excited, more excited than Pepper had expected as Natasha let out a little squeal and Clint fist pumped the air.

They'd practiced their cover story over and over while getting ready; Clint and Natasha Potts were brother and sister and lived in Phoenix, were visiting their aunt Pepper while their parents were travelling (their dad was in the army). Both of them added little details like their dog, a Husky by the name of Jackson (Natasha's idea) and the fact they lived on a farm (Clint's idea).

They hadn't really bought the kids many 'going out' clothes; mainly because all of the clothes got wrecked so easily, but also because they hadn't seemed necessary. Pepper had managed to find a lovely purple dress for Natasha, and a purple shirt with black pants for Clint to wear which had been hidden in the back of his closet.

Their eyes went wide as the limo pulled up to collect them.

"Tony and Steve are gonna be gutted they missed this!" Clint said as he climbed in, trying to help himself to a glass of champagne.

Pepper suspected Ben hadn't told a great many people that she'd be turning up with two kids by the looks of surprise she got when she entered the large hall; or many he had and they just hadn't believed him. The three of them had their pictures taken by the press; Natasha perched on Pepper's hip smiling brightly, Clint holding her hand, his endearingly mischievous grin on his face.  
Pepper had begged them both to behave while she was forced to mingle and talk business, and thankfully they did. Mostly.  
It was a pretty boring event for kids; in fact Pepper didn't even enjoy these occasions so it must have been extremely boring for the kids! But they behaved as they walked round, hand in hand, smiling for the photographers and talking politely to the people who bothered to talk to them.

It was almost late enough now that Pepper could make an excuse to leave, but then she was collared by Richard Regal and couldn't escape his conversation. Regal was at least 70, and grossly overweight; his white hair was covered by a bad toupee and he smelled like stale smoke and whiskey. Pepper hated talking to him, but he was a major investor in Stark Industries and as C.E.O it was her job to play nice and indulge him in conversation; at least for a little while.  
Over Regal's shoulder Pepper could see Clint and Natasha making a game of throwing peanuts to see who could hit the face of the huge portrait that hung on the main wall of the hall. They were both pretty accurate and got bored quickly; disappearing from view. Pepper realised she hadn't been listening to Regal at all when he asked for her opinion;

"Oh, I'm sorry, I really need to find my kids..." she rambled.

"But I thought they were your niece and nephew?"

"Well, yeah, sometimes it feels like they mine though. I really am sorry, please excuse me" and with a smile she began to walk away.

Suddenly a huge crash; followed by several gasps stopped her in her footsteps. At the other end of the hall there had been an elaborate pyramid of champagne flutes, a pyramid which was now largely scattered on the floor around a terrified looking Natasha.  
Her eyes were wide and full to the brim with tears. Both children fully aware that all eyes were on them didn't move a muscle and didn't make a sound. The noise of Pepper's heels were the only ones in the hall as she quickly strode the length of the room; scooped Natasha into her arms, took Clint's hand and turned to leave.

* * *

iv. **Maria, Phil and Pepper**

Later that night Maria, Phil and Pepper collapsed on the sofa, each with a drink in hand.  
Maria had a glass of red wine and told the others how Steve and Thor had continually managed to draw the agents attention away from the task at hand; asking them where the bathrooms were, or for help on their games. In the end Fury had given up and taken them to his office to leave Maria and the team to work in peace.

Phil had a glass of scotch (his birthday present from Maria) as he told them about his day at SHIELD, and why they now had to rebuild an entire lab, along with redo part of the medical bay due to smoke damage. Tony had fixed some of Dr. Matherson theories in his notebook for him though by way of a sorry.

Pepper had several glasses of Natasha's vodka while she informed the others of her night; although it had been a complete disaster, it was the most fun she'd ever had at one of her boring functions!

None of the kids had intentionally done anything wrong; Steve and Thor had been bored, Tony had been trying to help, and Clint swears blind that a waiter bumped into him; pushing him into Natasha, who ended up in a pile of broken glass.

"Well, that's three for three" Phil said, a mildly amused look on his face as he finished his scotch.


	23. The NY Times

"Have you seen the paper today?"

"No. Why?" Pepper was serving out pancakes to the kids while Phil tried to clean Bruce up, he'd had his already; the evidence was all over his face, hands, arms, hair...  
Maria threw a copy of the New York Times down on the table to show a picture of Clint and Natasha, all smiles, and the caption: _'Does Tony Stark know about his girlfriends secret children?'_

"Hey that's me!" Clint exclaimed from his and Natasha's shared chair, mouth still full of pancake. Natasha grabbed for the newspaper, blueberry sauce all over hands.

"I like that picture! Look Pepper!" The little girl proudly turned the paper round to show her.

"Its lovely" Pepper agreed absently, more concerned with the headline. "Can I see that sweetie?" Natasha nodded, handing the paper to her and going back to her blueberry covered breakfast.  
Flipping to the next page there were more pictures, all from the last three months of Pepper, Clint and Natasha. Some from the beach, some from the zoo. Even some from the aquarium last week!

Her eyes went wide as she read on:  
_'Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries had been spotted visiting several New York attractions with two children, including the annual Stark Foundations Benefit last night. Stark Industries employees claim the children are Potts' niece and nephew, however a friend of hers has confirmed they are in fact her son and daughter. Amanda Pryce, Potts' best friend since school, confirmed that the children; Carl and Natalie Potts, aged 7 and 5, were born before Potts' started dating the billionaire superhero. While Stark is away for the foreseeable future overseas with The Avengers it is yet to been seen what will happen to the children when he returns; will they be one big, happy family? Or will Potts' send her kids back to wherever they've been for the past four years? Only time will tell'_

Maria looked at the other woman, offering her a sympathetic look. She was sure the whole thing would blow over, but when SHIELD did find a way to reverse this; both Pepper and Tony's public image would be in tatters after 'her children' disappeared once again.

"That's it. They can't change them back! The others, fine. But those two are going to have to stay as kids!"

"Pepper..."

"I'm blaming Pryce for this whole mess. I wonder if SI legal team can do anything..?"  
It was something she'd seriously have to look into. The pictures from last night had been taken with consent, but she had no idea how they'd taken all the others without her noticing.


	24. Baxter

All of the children had been acting strange for the past few days; ever since Phil had allowed Steve to leave the tower on his own. Granted it was only to go to the store down the road to grab a newspaper. Stark Industries lawyer's had managed to force the NY Times to write an apology to Pepper in their latest issues and retract all its previous statements siting unreliable sources. At least Tony's lawyers had been good for something!  
Phil had initially brushed off Pepper and Maria's concerns saying that they were all fine; but when Maria offered to take them all out for pizza and not a single one of them took her up on her offer, he was convinced something was up.  
They'd all been reclusive lately, spending most of their time in the bedrooms rather than the main room of the tower they usually all occupied. They hadn't watched a film in days, neither Steve or Natasha had been interested in drawing when Pepper had asked and Thor and Tony turned down the tickets to a hockey match Phil had offered them.

"Do you think they're ill?"

"No, they don't seem ill, they seem secretive"

"That worries me more than them being ill!"

"Me too"

"Who do you think will be the easiest to crack?"

"Steve" the two women looked at Phil; a look which had 'duh' written all over their faces.

* * *

The three adults sat on the couch facing Steve, he looked a little nervous at having been called away from the rest of the kids who'd been crowding in his and Thor's bedroom.

Phil began: "So Steve, we're a little worried about the other children. They've been very quiet recently"

"They're fine" Steve answered confidently.

"Are you sure? Only it's very unlike them to be so... " Maria paused for thought, unsure of how to continue.

"To stay out of trouble" Pepper completed for her.

"Yeah, especially Clint, Natasha and Tony!" Maria added for good measure.

Steve looked at the three of them, appraising their concerned looks before sighing and admitting "You know don't you?"  
Pepper raised her eyebrows at the sudden admittance, never expecting Steve to break quite so easily.

"Yes, yes we do" Maria said, going along with Steve's evaluation of the situation.

"Can we keep him?"  
Now the three adults looked openly confused.

"We named him Baxter!" Steve said proudly "Do you want to meet him?"

"Sure"

A few minutes later and Steve returned, flanked by a small brown Labrador; just taller than Steve's knee, its fur was graying around the mouth in its old age; the dogs eyes never left Steve. When Steve stopped in front of the three bemused adults; the dog stopped too and sat down.  
The five others appeared from behind them; all wearing their best puppy dog eyes and pleading faces. Natasha climbed into Peppers lap as Clint wound his arms around her neck. Bruce had been placed on Phil's lap as Tony whispered pleas into his ear. Thor had wiggled between Maria and Phil on the couch; taking Maria's hand in his while Steve's eyes never left hers.

"How long have you..." Phil began. Disbelief in his voice as he contemplated how six children had snuck in, kept quiet, and fed a dog without any of the three of them noticing.

"Four days, since I went to get the paper for Pepper" Steve answered honestly.

"He's really good! And most gentle" Thor told them.

"He sleeps on the floor next to our bed" Natasha informed Pepper.

"He snores a little but we don't mind" Clint added, smiling.  
Maria and Phil both looked at Pepper; seemingly leaving the decision in her hands. After all this was her home.

"One week, you have one week to prove that you can be responsible and behave well enough to have a dog."  
Clint hugged her tightly as Natasha shifted herself so she was high enough up to kiss her cheek, whispering thanks in her ear. Thor announced his thanks loudly as a huge grin formed on his face. Tony could be heard saying "yes!" from the other end of the couch while Steve nodded resolutely; promising the three adults that he would not let them down before turning to hug the dog whose tail wagged enthusiastically.


	25. Rain, Rain, Rain

It was now well in to a dreary November; rain pounded the windows and showed no signs of letting up anytime soon. The kids were all bored; they'd been cooped up for days now and when they were bored, they misbehaved.

Recently;

- Tony had purposely knocked over several tubs of Natasha's paints, she'd lashed out; jumping on his back and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Paint had ended up everywhere, and Bruce had thoroughly enjoyed rolling in the green paint. Three sets of clothes had to be thrown away, they'd needed to call in a cleaning company to get the paint off the floor, and it took Pepper forever to get all the paint out of Natasha's hair.

- Thor had too much energy to sit still and fidgeted relentlessly, they'd been trying to watch The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie when Thor had inadvertently knocked Steve's book out of his hands and onto the floor, losing his page. He'd tried to find it again but clumsily ripped several pages out of the book. Not one for violence or confrontation Steve said very little, but was obviously upset, so Tony stepped in. He shouted loudly, Thor shouted louder; and they ended up in a pile of tangled limbs on the floor as they wrestled.

- Steve, Thor, Tony, Clint and Natasha had decided to play catch while the adults were busy doing various bits of tidying around the floor. It rapidly descended into mayhem when Clint accused Tony of not sharing properly; a huge argument broke out between them, only stopping when there was a large crash. Thor had thrown the ball in their direction to try and distract them from the yelling; only to have broken a window instead.

- Clint had fallen from climbing on the work surfaces when Thor had made him jump, Tony had gotten stuck while trying to follow Natasha thorough the air vents, and Steve had had an asthma attack while trying to round up the other five.

- Another attempt at hide and seek hadn't gone well; even with Phil's heavy emphasis on the fact they couldn't leave the floor of the tower. It took almost four hours for the three adults to find the six kids; Phil had been close to giving in and ringing Fury!

- Natasha had 'accidentally' rung Japan on Phil's phone running up a massive bill.

- Bruce had lost Maria's car keys.

- Tony had broken Pepper's laptop.

- In an attempt to occupy them for a while Pepper has suggested they all do some baking, but when Thor ate his batter instead of putting it in the oven; he wasn't very well.

- Bruce had stolen some of Natasha's markers and redecorated the walls.

-Thor continually stole packs of poptarts from the kitchen and hoarded them in his room.

And then one evening, there was a disagreement at dinner which resulted in Tony wearing Clint's mash potato, and the retaliation the next day left Natasha wearing Tony's spaghetti (Tony's aim wasn't as accurate as Clint's). Later that night Tony woke up covered in whipped cream and the next morning one of each pair of Natasha's shoes were gone. It turned into an outright prank war between Tony and the mini assassins. Tony's shoes were filed with jello, and Clint found himself soaked through when Tony balanced a bucket of water over the door. Tony somehow managed to superglue Clint's and Natasha's hands together, they respond by locking Tony in his room for several hours. Tony constructed a stink bomb, but later found all his clothes missing. Tony freaked Natasha out by chasing her round the tower with a spider but was later reduced to screaming like a girl when Clint jumped out at him while he was in the bathroom.  
It all ended when Tony stole Natasha's locket while she'd been in the bath; he'd hidden it but subsequently forgotten where it was. The prank war was all fun and games, but Tony knew this would truly upset her and panicked.

He admitted what he'd done to Pepper who quickly rounded everyone up to help them look. Several hours later, and way past the kids bed times, they were still unsuccessful. Natasha sat sadly on the couch. Pepper started to make her way over, but was beaten by Tony. She watched on, surprised, as Tony wrapped his arms round Natasha, hugged her tightly, and kissed her forehead. The young girl's arms wrapped back round Tony as he whispered an apology and a promise in her ear.

Clint appeared besides Pepper, smiling brightly up at her and announced "I think I know where it is"

Pepper followed Clint until he stopped and pointed at Bruce, something shining from his clutched fist.

"Well of course, he would be the one to find it!" Maria laughed from Pepper's side as she tried to pry it free from the toddler's stubborn hand.

"Let Tony give it to her?" Clint asked Pepper before she left to return to the lounge. "It'd be good for him"

"I think that's a great idea Clint" she smiled at him. "Do you reckon you can give it to him?"

"Sure I can"

Pepper watched as Natasha squealed in delight and kissed Tony on the cheek, Tony reddened in the face as Natasha ran towards Pepper to get the necklace fastened firmly around her neck.  
She smiled as she watched Clint and Natasha bound to their bed room hand in and hand as Tony scooped Bruce up and followed them.

"There's hope for them yet" Maria said; her gaze following Pepper's down the hallway.


	26. Breakfast In Bed

Steve started with it first; the flu. It spread fast through the kids; Clint and Natasha showed symptoms next, and by the end of the next day all of the kids apart from Thor were terribly ill. They all suffered from fevers, coughs and sore throats, restless nights and as a result fatigue. Additionally Tony had aching muscles and chest pains while Steve had horrible indigestion. Natasha exhibited vomiting and shivered relentlessly, and Clint refused to eat. Fortunately Bruce wasn't too ill but he did cried an awful lot, feeling uncomfortable and frustrated. Phil too was showing symptoms but was the only one who could settle Bruce.

Pepper managed to settle them on in the communal area to watch Peter Pan so her and Maria could have five minutes to rest. She'd given them all a dose of Tylenol and stocked up the tissues in the lounge. She'd placed a bucket by the end of the couch in the event that Natasha was sick again, and refilled Tony's glass of water. Phil was fast asleep on the arm chair in the corner of the room, feet propped up on the table, snoring slightly due to his blocked nose. Bruce was snoozing on his lap, a stream of drool running down his face. Steve and Tony were sharing one of the couches, both sprawled out and reluctant to move. The occasional turn of a page from Steve or the infrequent sip of his drink from Tony were the only signs that they weren't in fact asleep. Clint was sat at the end of the other couch, slouched in the corner with lack of energy, looking very sorry for himself. Natasha was using his lap as a pillow, lay on her stomach across most of the couch with one arm dangling off the edge. Clint was slowly stroking her sweat forehead in a comforting manner while she shivered under her blanket. Thor was sat at the other end of the couch, Natasha's feet on his lap while he watched in amazement as Peter Pan taught the Darling children to fly.

* * *

By the end of the week all five of the children, as well as Phil, were feeling much better, if a little tired.

Now it was Pepper's turn to feel ill. She was well waited on by the kids; Natasha brought her a fresh glass of water every 20 minutes, whether she'd drank the last one or not, each time she stopped to kiss her gently on the cheek before turning to leave. Steve delivered her Tylenol and asprin as required while Tony kept her stocked up on newspapers, magazines and DVDs to watch. Clint appeared at her door dragging the covers and pillows from his and Natasha's bed in case Pepper required extras, and Thor brought regular snacks to her.

Pepper began to feel better sooner then she admitted to. The quiet and calm of the children while their attention and energy were focused on helping her feel better was too good an opportunity to pass up, so she feigned it for one more day. When Natasha didn't appear with her usual 7 am glass of water, and Steve didn't deliver her usual dose of medication she began to get suspicious, five minutes later when there was a loud crash from the kitchen she knew the relaxation was over.

The scene that met her when she reached the kitchen was one she'd never forget; Clint was stood on the counter, trying to reach the top shelf where the plates were stored, but in doing so he'd knocked the lower shelf and the mugs had crashed to the floor. Natasha had dragged a chair over from the table and was stood on it, trying to figure out the complicated coffee machine which was now spilling hot water along the counter. Steve was trying to cook eggs, but looking at the pile of discarded shells by the side of the stove; he wasn't having much success. Tony had obviously been distracted from the toast he was making by Bruce as it was black and charred, and Thor was obviously working on plan B if the pile of pop tarts he'd been gathering was any indication. Clint was the first to notice Pepper was stood watching them, looking both disappointed that they'd been caught and worried they'd be told off.

"We were making you breakfast in bed!" he admitted quickly, causing the others to notice Pepper's arrival in the kitchen.

"It was supposed to be a surprise" Natasha added.

"Yeah until birdbrain knocked over the mugs!" Tony said, smiling an apology over at Clint who shot him a glare. Pepper made a round of the kitchen; pulling each of the children into a hug and kissing them fondly.

"This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me" she told them, eliciting six relived smiles. "Who wants pancakes?" she added looking at the failed breakfast in front of her


	27. Dog Walk

They finally had a day where it didn't rain, so Phil took the kids and Baxter on a walk; all six kids clad in wellies and anoraks.  
Steve spent most of the trip throwing sticks for Baxter to fetch while walking with Phil and Bruce.

"Steve, why did you choose the name 'Baxter'?" Phil mused quietly, watching the boy smile widely as Baxter returned with a stick in his mouth, tail wagging enthusiastically.

"Because the Fantastic Four are awesome! Tony wanted to call him Reed and Natasha wanted to call him Suzy until we pointed out he was a boy, so Clint suggested Storm, but we settled on Baxter so we didn't have to name him after just one of them" Steve answered earnestly, throwing the stick again for Baxter while Bruce squealed in delight.

"That was a nice idea" Phil smiled back, reminding himself to email Reed Richards; the Fantastic Four had been to the tower a few weeks previously to discuss with Phil the current predicament of The Avengers, and they'd been taken in by how small and cute they were. They'd ended up staying much longer than intended; Sue read Natasha stories while she sat comfortably in her lap, and Tony talked to Reed none stop about science. Bruce had become attached to The Thing; clinging to his leg whenever Ben tried to put him down, while Thor and Clint had spent the afternoon playing with Johnny.

Phil's eyes wondered over the field to see the other four running and playing, jumping in puddles and splattering mud on the others stood around them. They were caked in it! Pepper was not going to be pleased, but Phil couldn't bring himself to tell them to stop; the smiles and laughter from the six members of his team had gradually softened his resolved over the last few months, and he knew he'd been letting them get away with more than they should.

When Bruce told Phil he was cold, Phil looked at his watch to see they'd left the tower almost three hours ago, and it was certainly time to get back and have some lunch. That was when he realised Thor, Tony, Clint and Natasha had turned to actually throwing mud at each other, playing a war on two teams. Clint and Natasha had scurried up a tree to hide from the older two who looked thoroughly confused at their disappearance. Phil watched silently with Steve and Bruce as Clint and Natasha leaped from the tree, knocking Thor and Tony to the ground and wiping mud on their cheeks. "You lose!" Clint chimed as Natasha smiled proudly at him, sat on top of Tony. Thor twisted from underneath Clint, pinning the younger boy down. Natasha, momentarily distracted with thoughts of helping her friend, also ended up pinned on the ground by Tony.

"You fight honorably little ones" Thor told a fidgeting Clint with a smile.

"We'll call it a draw" Tony added, wiping mud on Natasha's cheeks in a similar manner to his own.

Natasha managed to wriggle out from under Tony but before she could retaliate, Phil called them over; surprising him slightly when they all listened.  
He looked at the four of them; they were completely coated in mud. It was in their hair, on their faces, on their clothes, down their boots...

Phil was right; Pepper looked less than impressed as she watched them re-enter the tower. Phil, Steve and Bruce were a bit muddy around the ankles; the other four looked liked swam through a pool of mud.

"You can clean them up!" she told Phil sternly, walking out of the room. The look of panic on his face made her take a little pity on him however, so she turned back and took Natasha by the hand.

"Those three are yours" she said, gesturing to Tony, Thor and Clint as Phil offered her a grateful smile.  
"Steve, could you change Bruce into some clean clothes for me? Maria is food shopping"

"Sure I can Pepper" he said cheerily.

At that exact moment a very muddy and excited Baxter ran into the room, leaving muddy paw prints on the floor, rug and couch before he lay down at Phil's feet.

Pepper looked at him stunned; "On second though" she said, taking Clint's hand too, "You get those three" she nodded down to Baxter who barked in agreement.

"But..." Phil started as he watched her, Clint and Natasha leave. Tony laughed as he bent down to stoke the dog.  
"Where do I even start..?" Phil asked no one in particular.


	28. The Museum

"We're going to the museum" Maria announced over the noise of breakfast.  
There was spilled scrambled egg over the table, Bruce was covered in spilled orange juice, Thor had dropped a waffle on the floor which Baxter had quickly grabbed and ran off with, and Clint had tomato sauce all over his face.  
Clint and Natasha still sat on one chair and ate from one plate; no matter how many times the adults had tried to get them to eat on their own. Pepper often wondered how it was comfortable, but they were happy so she didn't mind too much.

"Oh cool! They have dinosaurs there!" Tony announced loudly.

"Those are the great beasts you showed me in your book?" Thor asked, receiving an excited nod from Tony.

"I've never been to a museum before" Natasha said, receiving surprised looks from Steve and Tony, but Clint chimed in with "Neither have I". Natasha looked gratefully over at him as the other two boys attention shifted to him.

When Bruce started to wave his arms in the air excitedly and Pepper was splattered with beans; she decided breakfast was over! She really needed to go and get changed; Maria had offered to take all the kids to the museum for the day, allowing Pepper to go into the office for the first time in three months, and allowing Phil an opportunity to catch up on some of the paperwork Fury had been sending him. Of all three of the adults Maria had had the most time away from the kids, and the most time at work; Pepper had had the least.

After breakfast, and a change of clothes for most of them, Maria and the six kids headed out; leaving a worried Pepper and a relieved Phil at the tower.

Maria found that keeping hold of six children in a busy museum was much harder than she'd first thought; but she soon learnt that keeping hold of Natasha stopped her disappearing, and kept Clint close by too. Tony was the other major flight risk, so she kept hold of him with her other hand; leaving Bruce with Steve or Thor who were much less likely to vanish.

They spent the morning in the Heilbrunn Cosmic Pathway and the Hall of Planet Earth; Thor helpfully pointing out several blank spots and the planets that should be featured there. Thor and Tony had a bit of an argument over various things so Maria quickly moved them on to the North American Mammals and the Hall of Biodiversity which was enjoyed much more by Steve, Natasha and Clint.

They had lunch in the cafe, and watched a documentary on penguins in the IMAX, they spent rather a long time in The Birds of The World exhibition as Clint insisted on reading all the information provided.  
Then they went to see the dinosaurs on the fourth floor; this was everybody's favourite exhibit and they spent the rest of the afternoon here. It was smaller and less crowded up there, and Maria felt a bit more comfortable letting the children explore more freely. Bruce had fallen asleep in his stroller earlier in the afternoon and was quietly snoozing.

Maria caught Steve not looking at the exhibits; but instead watching a young girl who had curly dark hair and rosy red cheeks, he blushed profusely when Maria nudged him.

"Go say hi" Maria advised him.

"I can't do that! I wouldn't know what to say..." He admitted, stammering slightly over the words and wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans.

"Ask her about the exhibit, it's easy in a place like this" she winked at him and nudged him forward.

'Nothing ever changes' she thought with a smile, 'he's now a twelve year old and i'm still giving him dating advice!'

Maria watched as he shyly approached her, stood next to her but said nothing; instead the young girl turned to him, smiled, complimented his Captain America tshirt and asked him if he'd like to look at the next dinosaur with her. He nodded, lost for words and trailed after her. Maria would have laughed if she hadn't noticed the empty stroller...  
She soon had the four other kids looking frantically for Bruce; he couldn't have gone far surely.

Steve joined the search when his new friend (Lauren) had gone home, and soon the security guards too were helping. Clint and Natasha had gone missing during the fuss and Maria was worrying more about what Pepper would say than Fury... If the didn't find them soon Maria would be responsible for losing half the Avengers.

The security guards found Bruce a short while later; asleep on the floor of the research library.  
An hour later they found Clint and Natasha who'd accidentally locked themselves in one of the supply closets while they'd searching for Bruce.  
Now Maria realised why Pepper really disliked taking them out alone, still, it could have been worse; they hadn't broken anything today.  
Maria decided it was definitely time to leave when the word 'yet' creeped into her mind.


	29. Storm

Pepper was awakened one night just before 1am by a quiet murmur and a gentle hand stroking her cheek; she'd barely had time to consciously recognise that someone else was there when a loud clap of thunder and a scared whimper snapped her out of her sleep.

Her eyes flew open to see Natasha stood there, in her pink night gown and bunny slippers; clutching the penguin teddy Clint had chosen for her as a gift from the zoo.  
At the next bang of thunder she gripped the stuffed animal tighter and her frown grew deeper. Wordlessly Pepper scooped her up and pulled her into her bed.  
With each new bang Natasha shifted closer to Pepper and further down under the covers; it got to the point where Pepper was both uncomfortable and concerned before she said anything.

"Tasha, sweetie, I know it's loud but it's just thunder from the storm; it's nothing to be scared of"

"Just thunder?"

"Just thunder"

"You promise?"

"I promise. Did you think the noise was something else?"

Natasha nodded; suddenly shrinking back into herself and avoiding all eye contact with Pepper. She hadn't seen her like this in a long time; not since she first arrived here all those weeks ago, still insisting on being called Natalia and not trusting anyone. They'd come a long way since then but the fear the young girl felt about the loud noises seemed to erase all that progress. Pepper was torn between prying into her friend's private history; which she knew adult-Natasha would never willingly talk about, but also needing to know, so she could reassure child-Natasha.

"What did you think the bangs were? Why were you so scared?"

Keeping her eyes firmly on the penguin gripped tightly in her grasp Natasha explained;  
"Before I came here, I was somewhere else. In Russia..."

Pepper nodded gently, waiting for her to continue.

"When I was there; you had to do what you were told. Don't speak; just listen. You had to train hard, learn fast and always win; always be the best. If you didn't; if you weren't good enough or you were too slow or too weak; then the men would take you away. Take you outside to the forest... T-then there were loud bangs, and they would dig a hole for you."

Pepper was silent for a minute, glad Natasha still had her gaze on her toy penguin, as her mouth fell open with shock and silent tears ran down her face.

She slowly processed what Natasha had just told her about her past; that every day she woke and had to prove herself worthy not to be taken outside, shot and discarded. She couldn't imagine the fear that she must have felt, living through that at just five years old; alone and afraid. The thoughts made Pepper weep; sadness and anger welling inside of her.

Pepper pulled Natasha into her lap and hugged her tightly; comforting both the child and herself in the process.

"You don't have to be scared any more, you don't ever have to be afraid again. Nothing is going to happen to you here; I'll keep you safe"

She felt Natasha nod at the words she spoke; the fact that she didn't ask her to promise made Pepper feel better; it meant some part of her knew it was true, that she didn't need confirmation.

She was rocking Natasha back and forth slightly when her bedroom door creaked open again; Clint was stood there this time clutching Natasha's pink dressing gown; his face was tear soaked and his bottom lip quivered.

"I couldn't find you..." he stammered with a quaking voice.

"I'm s-sorry" Natasha stammered back

They were both going to burst into tears any moment; Pepper was sure of it, so she stood up and put Natasha on the floor next to Clint; allowing him to hug her tightly and grip her hand so he knew she wasn't going to disappear again.

Pepper took their hands in hers and said; "Come on, I've got an idea"

In the hallway they ran into a sheepish looking Tony clutching a frightened Bruce. The five of them made their way into the large lounge area where the group spent most of their time; here they could see the windows being pounded with rain and the occasional flash of lightening.

"Stay here and I'll be right back"

Moments later Pepper reappeared in the room carrying several pillows, blankets, sheets and sleeping bags, Steve appeared behind her; carrying more.

"Where's Thor?" Tony asked

"He's still snoring away" Pepper laughed. "Right, we're going to make a fort, and we can all sleep in here together so you won't be scared of the thunder"

"Really?" Clint asked, sounding equal parts shocked and excited.

"I wasn't scared" Tony muttered under his breath, blaming Bruce for waking him. Though Pepper knew even as an adult Tony wasn't fond of thunder.

20 minutes later and they'd made a fantastic fort; using the two couches to hold up the roof of the fort; they'd draped the sheets over and used some of the kitchen chairs to help.  
They'd pulled all the cushions from the couches and the arm chairs to make it comfier and tony had disappeared and brought back a 'homemade' flashlight he'd constructed a few weeks earlier.  
They had hot chocolate in the fort and talked for ages; laughing at each other's jokes and telling each other stories.

By this point Pepper had gone to wake Thor; thinking it unfair that he should miss out on a slumber party just because he could sleep through anything.

Pepper sat quietly on the de-cushioned couch listening; learning a lot about her friends in the process.  
She learn how Steve's mum used to make most of his clothes, and that every summer his favourite thing to do was to skip rocks in the lake.  
She learned that Natasha loved ballet and her favourite season was winter as it reminded her of home.  
Clint told the others of the older brother none of them knew about (except probably Natasha), and how he loved to ride horses.  
Thor amazed the others with tales of Asgard; their traditions and customs, how he was a prince on his home planet and would one day rule (though Pepper suspected the others were rather disbelieving of his stories, nevertheless they sat and listened politely).  
Tony told the others about his best friend; Jarvis the butler, and ever surprised Pepper with a recount of a family holiday he'd been on to Austria.  
They then took it in turn to ask Bruce several questions so as not to leave him out. He was curled sleepily by Pepper's feet but he answered anyway; his favourite colour (green), favourite film (Tarzan) and favourite food (chocolate) before he fell asleep.

At 3.15 Pepper announced it was definitely time to go to sleep, and hoped they'd all be so tired as to sleep in in the morning.  
Luckily; they did.  
Pepper was woken by the smell of coffee and crawled out from under the fort to see Maria smirking at her.

"Thunder?"

"Thunder" Pepper confirmed.

"You all looked so cute and snugly under there" Maria half mocked-half complimented. "It was a good idea to make them all feel safe"

"Yeah, they were pretty scared last night"

"I can imagine; it was really loud; it woke me up more than once. I'm betting Coulson slept right threw though!"

"I'd agree with you on that one! Remember the monster tantrum Bruce threw last week when he woke everyone up at 4am; not a peep from Phil!"

"Typical!" Maria laughed again, "I've got to get some pictures of them in their fort before they wake up!"

The photos Maria took were adorable:  
Bruce curled up around one of Natasha's bunny slippers she'd taken off, sucking his thumb while he snored quietly. He was covered with a blanket adorned with the Hulk.  
Steve and Thor were in the far corner; Thor had somehow wriggled round in the night and ended up with his feet in Steve's side. Steve was still clutching one of his books; blond hair sticking up at odd angles from sleeping on the floor. He'd somehow lost his pillow in the night and Thor had gained three.  
Clint, Tony and Natasha were in the center; the two boys protectively positioned on either side of Natasha. She too had a thumb in her mouth and her other hand was clasped in Clints. He had his free arm wrapped round Natasha's shoulders, while Tony was hugging Natasha's toy penguin; lay back-to back with Natasha.

Several minutes later Phil walked in; eyes going wide at the state of the room. But when he saw them; still sleeping soundly, curled together in a mess of blankets and stuffed animals he couldn't help but smile.


	30. Squabbling

Maria had Natasha pinned down between her knees, trying to hold her still while she brushed her hair.

"Natasha, please just 2 minutes..."

"Clint! Tony's hidden his in the microwave!"

"Shush! Maria, Natasha's cheating!"

"Am not! I'm on Clint's team!"

"You're not even playing!"

"Am so!"

"Am not!"

"Natasha. Tony. Please..."

"But she's cheating!"

"How can I be cheating if I'm not playing?!"

Natasha stuck her tongue out at Tony as he pulled a face at her.

"Clint, he's moved it to behind the TV!"

"Natasha stop it!"

Just then Thor ran past, Clint chasing shouting "That's mine! Give it back! Give it back!"

Maria rubbed her temples; the headache she'd woken up with had been growing steadily all day.

She'd suggested a game of 'Treasure Hunt' (a game Pepper had invented where the kids would hid a piece of card with their name written on it, and whoever found the most would win. It was an alternative to hide-and-seek so they wouldn't be worried about losing any of the kids again) in a bid to occupy them for a while, allowing Pepper to attend an important meeting at Stark Industries, while Phil bathed Bruce (who was once again, covered in food).

Maria was really regretting the tequilas she'd had last night!

"Maria Thor stole my card!" Clint whined.

"I did not! I found it! That was the objective of the game"

"I hadn't hidden it yet! You snatched it out of my hand!"

"Found it!"

"Snatched it!"

"Thor, you can't 'find' something that's not been hidden yet"

"Shut up Natasha you're not even playing!"

"Am too!"

"Maria, Thor told Tasha to shut up, we're not allowed to say 'shut up'!"

Four outraged faces looked to Maria; waiting for someone other than them to be told off, when Pepper walked back through the door.

"Oh thank God!" Maria said, handing Natasha's hairbrush to her and sneaking off back to bed. On her way down the corridor she heard the kids complaining to Pepper about various things, including cheating and rule breaking. Maria smiled softly; glad it was no longer her concern.

She'd just got back to her room when someone knocked on the door. _What now?!_ she thought as she forced herself to stand back up and shuffle over to the door.

She opened it to find Steve's smiling up at her. Several books clutched in his hands. "Look Maria, Phil took me to the library this morning with Bruce and I got some new books to read; one of them is about Russia, that's where Natasha is from! And I got one about space so I can talk to Thor about it... Though I think he makes some things up... And this one, see, is about birds; I'm helping Clint learn to read and I thought he'd prefer to read a book about things he liked..."

Maria smiled down at him, and hugged him tightly. "I can always count on you Steve! You want to read me some of your books for a bit?"  
"Sure!" he answered enthusiastically as Maria heard more arguments from down the hall.

Pepper was sure Phil was stalling coming back into the living room. She just knew it. The kids had become more and more like actual siblings as time went on; meaning when they got on they were loving and caring and sweet, but when they didn't; they argued like cats and dogs.

At the moment Natasha had Tony pinned on the floor while he tried to pull her hair to get free, she did not take kindly to this and twisted his wrist back. Tony managed to knock Natasha off him (tho Pepper suspected this was only due to the young girls size) and ran off, Natasha scurrying after him.  
Thor and Clint were fighting over a purple piece of card currently scrunched up in Thor's hand. Clint had climbed onto the older boys back and was desperately trying to climb higher to reach it.

_Right_ Pepper thought, _I've had enough of squabbling interns and argumentative lawyers all morning at SI, I'm not prepared to put up with it any longer!_

On their next dash round the room Pepper grabbed Natasha and held her in one arm, using the other to pull Clint off Thor. She walked down the hall with the two miniature assassins struggling in her grasp while Thor and Tony followed her sheepishly, still in shock.

Pepper opened the door to Bruce's room to find Phil sat on the floor, still stalling, playing with Bruce's toy trucks while the toddler snoozed on the floor.

"Your turn!" she stated, depositing Clint and Natasha in the room, ushering Tony and Thor inside, and closing the door firmly behind her.

She looked at her watch; 6 o'clock, definitely not too early for a glass of wine!


	31. Options

The next day the kids were back to getting along, the adults could only hope it would last!  
They took them bowling again; Tony and Clint winning once more, and then to the movies to see Monsters University which they all really enjoyed. As they'd been so well behaved all day Maria took everyone out for dinner at TGIs. By the time they got back to the tower everyone was exhausted; Bruce, Natasha and Tony were asleep in the car, Clint was muttering utter nonsense, and Steve was too tired to read.  
When they got back all of the kids filed straight off to bed, Pepper set about answering some emails on her laptop while she had some peace, while Phil looked through the messages on his phone.

He suddenly looked up to Maria; "Do you have any messages off Fury?"

"Erm... No, just oh; I have 17 missed calls. Ooops"

"Yeah, I have 21... Pepper?"

She fumbled around in her bag for a moment; "Yeah, I have 15 missed calls from Fury. I guess he wanted to speak to us..?"

Phil stood and left the room to ring him back, he guessed there would be lots of yelling...

A very short while later, when he re-entered the room; his face unreadable to both women waiting to hear what was so important.

"Fury wants to see us tomorrow..."

"All three of us? But what about the kids? He said under no circumstances were they to go aboard the helicarrier again"

"He's sending some agents to watch them"

"Did he say what it was about?"

"No, but he said it was important"

The three adults sat in silence for a while, considering what could be so important.

"Do you think they've found a cure?"Maria asked; they'd all been thinking it, they'd all known this day was coming...

None of them really knew what to think or how to feel at the prospect; they'd become so attached to the kids, they couldn't imagine their lives without them, but they also missed their friends and colleagues, and the world did need them...

The next day Agents McCauly, Walsh and Ericsson arrived dead on 8 am. They entered the floor as the kids were eating breakfast.

"Who're you?" Clint asked, climbing up onto his knees on the chair to get a better look.

"We're here to look after you today" Walsh answered, when both her colleagues failed to speak.

She smiled at them, six faces staring back at her, when Bruce burst into tears.

Phil walked in, taking Bruce into his arms and looked the agents over, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Three? He only sent three?"

"There are only three of you" McCauly answered back; he was a young agent promoted above his worth because both of his parents and elder sister were agents. Phil always thought he was a smart-ass with a bad attitude.

"_We_ know how to handle them, _you_ do not"

"Its just six little kids, how hard can it be?"

Before Phil could give him a piece of his mind Pepper walked in, handed a list over to Walsh;

"These are your rules, trust me; follow them. We're going to be late, you ready Phil?"

He nodded, putting Bruce down on Tony's lap. He smiled quickly at the six kids and left. Pepper rounded the table; kissing and hugging each of them good bye.

"Be good" Maria warned them, "and good luck" she told the three agents.

"I don't like it, I don't like it one bit" Pepper admitted to the others in the elevator. "Maybe Fury can do with just seeing you two, I should stay, I don't trust those agents to look after them properly..."

"Pep, you're rambling. We'll be back in an hour; Fury promised he'd be brief"

"Fine, why didn't we get Sue and Johnny to babysit again?"

"They couldn't promise they wouldn't get called away; they're the only team of superheroes resident in New York at the minute"

"Right, well I'm back in an hour whether Fury is finished or not"

"Agreed"

* * *

Walsh looked down at the long list of rules Pepper had handed her; the other agents leaning over her shoulders to read along. They didn't notice the children whispering at the table.

_- Do NOT under any circumstances play hide and seek!_  
_- Keep your eyes on them at all times! Especially Clint and Natasha_  
_- Don't let Thor eat any pop tarts, cookies or ice cream_  
_- The gym is out of bounds_  
_- You're not to take them out of the tower_  
_- No yelling at the kids_  
_- Do not let any of them go near the pool_  
_- If they watch a film; its Steve's turn to choose_  
_- Keep your phones somewhere safe_  
_- Don't let Tony take apart anything electrical_  
_- There are band aids and first aid kits in the bathroom and kitchen_  
_- If you play Candyland; Thor cheats!_  
_- In an emergency ring us!_  
_- The Fantastic Four are on stand-by if you need them, but they may not always be available_  
_Good luck!_

"Wow; thats a lot of rules!" McCauly sighed.

"Erm guys..." Ericsson had looked up to notice one very empty table; aside from Baxter who had jumped up and was licking the left over milk from Bruce's cereal.

They heard a door slam from down the corridor.

"2 minute; that's how long it took to lose them!" Walsh said in disbelief. "Man, Fury is gonna fire us for sure!"

They looked in every room; all of them were empty bar one which was locked.

Walsh knocked; "Hey guys, can you let us in?"

"Leave us alone!"

"Tony, please can you open the door for me?"

"Not til Pepper gets home!"

"Natasha, please sweetie we need-"

"You're being too soft Walsh, move out the way"

"McCauly don't-"

He hammered on the door "Now listen up; you six get out here right now! That's an order!"

"The list said no yelling" Ericsson reminded him.

There was silence from the other side of the door.  
10 minutes later and McCauly had managed to wrench the door open; revealing another empty room.

"Dammit! Where they hell did they go?"

"I told you not to yell..."

McCauly took the list from Ericsson and ripped it into pieces.

"We need to find them. Now"

They all nodded and split up; desperately scouring the tower for any signs of the mini-Avengers!

* * *

Pepper sat nervously in Fury's office; she'd only been in here once before; the evening she'd been passed six miniature versions of her friends. Now she was terrified she'd have to pass them back.

Fury walked in, no apology for being 20 minutes late to his own 'emergency' meeting.

"Right, the reason I called you in was to give you an update on the situation"

"We figured that, thanks sir" Maria was less than impressed by her boss' tardiness

"At current we have identified an unusual type of radiation; drojis particles which we believe to have caused the regression. Though we have no clue how long it's going to last, or how to reverse it"

Pepper felt relief rush though her; she wasn't ready to go back to watching her friends risk their lives on a daily basis.

Fury's eye passed over them briefly, taking in the relief on each of their faces;

"I called you in to give you a choice"

"What kind of choice sir?"

"This situation is getting out of hand; you're all becoming too involved. I have hundreds of emails from SI employees asking when they can have their CEO back, the press are reporting various theories about the Avengers apparent disappearance and there are at least three super villains and terrorist cells taking credit for it. Things are going to hell round here without Hill and Coulson and the Fantastic Four haven't had a day off in over two months. I need you all back... What i'm offering you is a chance to return to work; we'll find an alternative solution to the childcare situation."

"With all due respect sir, but are you mad?"

"Yeah, have you met those kids? There's no one even remotely qualified to take care of them!"

Pepper didn't even bother to answer; she was angry. She was angry with Fury for pulling them all the way in here for that. She was angry that he'd put his own concerns above the happiness and well-being of the kids, and she was furious he'd even considered pulling them off this; so she stood and walked out.

A moment later Phil and Maria joined her;  
"We told him we weren't interested" Maria told her.

Pepper smiled, none of them had really wanted this; to look after six kids. They were all high powered, career driven people with important jobs. But for now at least, they were happy with their roles. They were all eager to get back to the tower and see what mischief the kids had caused while they'd been out.

* * *

So far; Ericsson's and McCauly's phones had gone missing, they'd found two empty boxes of pop tarts an empty box of cookies, someone had 'redecorated' McCauly's bag with glue and pink glitter, Tony had managed to sneek up on Ericsson and pushed him in the pool, Walsh's shoes had gone missing and McCauly had a growing bruise on his temple from several plastic projectiles Clint and Natasha had thrown at him when he'd cornered them in the gym.

When Pepper, Phil and Maria arrived back a smile formed on their faces when they saw the three agents assigned to look after their charges; remembering the first night they'd brought the kids back to the tower.  
Ericsson was wrapped in Tony's dinosaur towel still shivering as he frantically searched the tower. McCauly was furious and had taken to yelling. His usual arrogant demeanour was gone, replaced with one of panic; he looked a mess. Walsh was panicking, muttering about updating her resume and potential job options outside of SHIELD.

"Steve, Thor, Tony, Clint, Natasha and Bruce; you can come out now!" Phil called from the entrance; startling the three SHIELD agents from their searching.

Steve appeared out of one of the bedrooms; sketchbook and pencils in his hands and a shy smile on his face.  
Thor appeared from behind the kitchen counters; mouth full of cookies.  
Tony walked in with Bruce, who walked straight over to Phil.  
Clint and Natasha were last to join them; jumping down from their hiding place.

"Air vents! Of course! That's how they-" Ericsson began, but stopped at the stern look he received from Coulson.

"Your services are no long required" Maria told them, taking the box of cookies off Thor and stroking his hair back from out of his face.

"But Fury may need you back at HQ; he's a little short staffed" Pepper added, picking Natasha up as her and Clint started throwing bits of plastic at McCauly again.

The agents gathered up their things quickly; Walsh not even pausing to ask where her shoes where as they scurried out.

Natasha and Tony handed two SHIELD issue mobile phones to Phil once they'd left.

"Why did you take these?"

"We used them as walkie-talkies" Tony told him with a grin.

"Right, you guys can help us tidy up and then how about a movie?"

"Can we watch The Lion King?"

"Thor, it's not your turn to chose. What do you want to watch Steve?"

"The Wizard of Oz"

"Okay, but first we tidy. What else did you get up to while we were gone?.."


	32. Fury's Adventures in Babysitting

SI had been in a bit of crisis recently following Tony's disappearance and Pepper's extended leave. She'd been called into urgent vital meetings to assure some of their most generous supporters that that company was still worthwhile funding. The catch; the meetings were in Japan.

There were lots of tears as she said her goodbyes; Clint was tearful, Natasha was bawling and even Pepper herself was weeping. She'd be gone one week, and had manage to cram 6 cities and 17 meetings, aswell as travelling times into those seven days, refusing to be away any longer.

* * *

Two days after she'd left and SHIELD was run under; a bout of flu had half the staff off and a steady increasing caseload overworked the remaining staff. An emergency situation had occurred and Fury had no choice but to ring, beg and plead Coulson and Hill to come in. They were the two best case agents SHIELD had and Fury was desperate.

Due to the seriousness of the situation, they'd agreed to come in; it wasn't going to be like last time when he dragged them all the way in for a pointless meeting, and they'd made sure Fury knew the next time he rang it'd have to be an emergency!

The only person available to watch the children was Fury himself. He'd exhausted every other avenue, but if he wanted Hill and Coulson, he had no choice. McCauly was still on reprimand after his behavior looking after the kids last time, and his attitude on returning to HQ. Walsh and Ericsson had both outright refused and had spread the word to their colleagues leaving Fury with no volunteers.

* * *

Fury had some junior agents empty some of the chairs and tables from the largest conference room, leaving one large round table, a few smaller ones and several chairs. They could draw for a while, kids liked to draw, right?

Coulson and Hill arrived at 8.15 with the six kids.

"You're late agents" Fury stated, looking up from the computer system he'd had brought down in order to keep his watchful eye on operations along with his team under-aged of superheroes.

"Yeah, some of the kids wondered off..." was the only explanation offered to Fury to explain how, when disembarking the quinjet they'd traveled in to the helicarrier; Clint and Natasha had decided to do some exploring of their own. (They hadn't been to the helicarrier since they'd first been transformed to children, unlike the others who'd visited more recently - and wondered off themselves)

Fury raised his eyebrow and noted how Maria held Natasha, and how Phil gripped Clint's hand tightly. He made his own assumptions as to exactly who 'some' of them were.

"They didn't break anything did they?"

"We don't think so sir"

"Good. Now get to work... And thanks..."

The last bit of that statement left Maria and Phil a little too shocked to talk; they'd never heard Director Fury say 'thanks' before. They hugged the kid's goodbye and  
turned to leave; hoping the lectures and the pleas they'd bombarded the kids with would pay off and they'd behave; just this once. But they weren't counting on it. Nervously they left the room and set about their jobs.

* * *

Fury scrolled through his computed, made some noted and sent a few texts on his phone before he realised the children hadn't moved from where Hill and Coulson had deposited them. They stood by the door; Tony holding Bruce, Clint and Natasha hand in hand, all staring. they seemed unsure of what to do.

"Sit down, draw... Do something..."

Steve was the only one to move to the table, taking several pieces of paper and a pencil from the center and sitting down with a smile, seting straight to work.  
Fury looked expectantly at the others, none of who moved.

"Well..?"

"I'm hungry" Thor answered

"I don't want to draw" Tony complained

"I need the toilet" Clint added and Natasha nodded

"Toys!" Bruce wailed

"Can I ask you a question mister?" Thor asked smiling

"Go on"

"Why do you only have one eye?"

Tony and Clint snorted with laughter at the abruptness of the question, Steve tried to shush him politely, and Natasha's eyebrows knitted together as she quickly tried to guess the answer before Fury could give it.

"Excuse me?"

"I just wondered because my father only has one eye..."

"Great, this is going to be just great..."

* * *

20 minutes later and Clint and Natasha were missing, Fury had shown them to the restrooms on his way to get some food, when he'd returned; they'd vanished.

Back in the conference room Bruce had begun drawing on the walls in marker pens. Thor had used the chairs to build a tower he was now attempting to climb, and Tony had sat at Fury's makeshift desk and was part way through taking apart his computer.

"Wow this is some cool stuff!" he told Fury.

He found himself lost for words for once. He just picked up nine-year-old Tony stark, carried him to the opposite corner, sat him on the floor and threw several packets of chips, candy bars and boxes of cookies at him. Bruce crawled over and started shoveling chocolate into his mouth with his chubby hands, and Thor instantly climbed down at the distraction of food.

"Hey Steve" Fury whispered, reluctant to disturb the one well behaved child, "where do you think Clint and Natasha would have gone?"

Steve looked up from an impressive drawing of the New York sky line he was part way through and looked at Fury, assessing how much he should trust hum. Apparently he seemed trust worthy enough as, after a deep sigh Steve reeled off a list of places he should check;

"They like to crawl in the air vents; they usually go to the swimming pool or the gym when they sneak off at home. Sometimes they just like to sit in a room on their own or make a den. Tasha is scared of the doctors so they won't go there, and Clint didn't eat a lot of breakfast so he might be hungry..."

"Right, okay. Thanks Steve... Can you watch the others while I go find them?"

Steve nodded before joining the others in stuffing their faces.

* * *

Okay, so this babysitting stuff was definitely harder then Fury had thought. The last time he'd watched the regressed Avengers was the first evening, and that had been easy. They'd been shy, quiet, tired and subdued. Scared and shocked; uncomfortable in their surroundings and with each other. Now they'd been kids for weeks; they'd settled into a routine and were like normal, mischievous children; with abnormal abilities and an affinity for finding trouble.

Over an hour later Fury found the mini assassins sat in an empty, previously-locked office; sat underneath one of the desks. They'd been to the cafeteria and stolen some chips and chocolate and made a fort. Fury would have missed them altogether if he hadn't heard Natasha giggling as Clint told her funny stories about the circus. The laughter made Fury pause for a moment. Clint laughed too; at his memories from childhood. It was nice to hear; he couldn't recall ever hearing Barton or Romanoff laughing before. Ever.

"Right you two; you've had your fun. Now back to the room with the others"

They'd each pulled a face; disappointed at being caught. But they obeyed him and ran ahead back down the corridors; amazing Fury with their knowledge of the layout of the ship. He'd had junior agents late to meeting after being here two months because they still got lost.

* * *

Two hours later and Fury realised how much of a terrible babysitter he was, he'd had called in reinforcements; however unqualified and non-security cleared they were.

Over the last few hours Fury had made Bruce cry, several times. Tony had managed to take apart Fury's phone in the two minutes he wasn't watching him. He'd upset Clint when he'd tried to make conversation about his family. Natasha withdrew, and sat miserably in the corner when Fury accidentally let slip something about the red room, and he'd revealed to Tony that he had a lab in the tower which he hadn't discovered yet. Clint and Natasha had disappeared once again, and Thor had to be taken to medical when he injured himself climbing various pieces of furniture. Steve was the only one interested in drawing (unless you counted the multi-colored scribbles now adorning the walls courtesy of Bruce) and Fury was close to calling it quits when Agent Monroe popped her head round the door;

"Sir, your back up is here"

"Thank god! Show her to my office?"

"Right away sir"

"Rogers, you're in charge! And if Clint and Natasha show up again, tie them down! I'll be right back" ... "And please be good" he added as he left, knowing it'd do little good.


	33. Backup

Fury entered his office to find his 'plan B' stood uneasily in the corner. She turned startled as he entered; hand clutching something inside her bag.

"If you're holding a taser there Miss Lewis please don't use it. You're safe here; I just need to ask for your help"

"You want help from me?"

"Yes. I'm hoping you'll be able to help me out. I'm in a difficult situation here"

"Has this got something to do with The Avengers and what really happened to them? Because my friend Jane, she's really worried and no one will tell her anything"

"I'm sorry about that, but this is really a delicate issue. If you agree to help I will organise someone to speak to Miss Foster about the situation."

"But, I mean, if she's not security cleared; I'm definitely not! Why me?"

"You were available and I was desperate"

"Wow. That was brutally honest and not at all tactful"

"It was truthful. I thought you'd appreciate the truth"

"Seems weird, hearing you talk about honesty. You're the director of a top secret, covert affairs spy organisation"

"We're getting off topic here and time is a bit of an issue, so Miss Lewis, are you in?"

"You haven't told me why exactly I'm here yet director"

"I need a babysitter"

Darcy raised her eyebrows; "Seriously? That's why you sent a private jet all the way to New Mexico to pick me up, you need a babysitter?"

"You don't understand Miss Lewis; I need a babysitter for the Avengers"

This had to be a joke, it was the only explanation as far as Darcy was concerned. Her apprehension was clearly obvious to Fury as he picked the conversation back up;

"Sit down Miss Lewis, let me explain. A few months ago The Avengers were sent on a mission to investigate a potential weapon being stored in a warehouse in downtown Brooklyn. There had been odd radiation readings from that area, and the general chatter around town was that someone was building a weapon with the intent of wiping New York off the map. That was the last time we saw them"

Darcy sat silently opposite Fury, hand still gripping her taser in her bag. "Okay..." she prompted him to continue.

"Coulson relocated his team and brought them back here. The weapon had gone off while they were inside the warehouse; it had affected them. Its' still affecting them... The Avengers were regressed to childhood, and they're a bit of a handful"

Darcy was still not convinced. It all sounded too farfetched, it was ridiculous.

Fury passed a file over the desk to her; "Read this, I'll be back in a minute. I need to go check on them"

Darcy watched him leave before turning back to open the file. Inside were notes and photos dated from when The Avengers had first gone missing. Six scared looking children; various ages and states of health. The notes listed their ages, injuries and general observations from their initial visit to the infirmary. Darcy's mouth fell slack a little as she looked through the images; it was so clearly them. Since she'd first met Thor strange things had happened in her life; not to mention the fact that she was now very good friends with a team of superheroes, but this was by far the strangest thing that she'd encountered. How on earth had SHIELD kept this quiet for so long?

Fury re-entered the room, cursing under his breath about missing children and incompetent staff.

"Well?" he asked expectantly.

"I'm in" she nodded; "but only if you tell Jane what's going on"

"We'll send someone to speak to her"

"Great. So, where are the kids?"


	34. Fury Gets Busted

Fury led Darcy down a maze of narrow grey corridors. Each one as boring, blank and long as the last; how anyone found their way around here she had no idea.

"You understand that all of this is classified Miss Lewis? Which means no uploading videos to youtube and no photos on facebook... It's imperative this remains a secret"

"Right" Darcy said, subtly slipping her phone back into her bag. She was really looking forward to seeing them. She'd spent a lot of time at the tower over that last year and become good friends with The Avengers. Darcy often went out with Pepper, Natasha and Jane. She loved Clint's sense of humour and Tony's sarcastic wit. And of course Steve, she just loved Steve. She'd missed them over the last few months, she'd been worried too! The relief she felt now was almost overwhelming; she was positive she'd been called in to receive bad news when a private jet and a SHIELD escort had appeared to collect her.

"You know the basic parameters; Steve is the oldest, he's 12. Then Thor; we think he's about 10 though he tells us he's actually 315; some Asgardian thing... Tony is nine and Clint is seven. Natasha is five; though don't let her age fool you! And Bruce is about two. Steve is well behaved and responsible; the others are not. Thor is hyper, Tony is mischievous, Clint's manipulative and Natasha is sneaky. I never thought I'd say this; but I actually feel sorry for Pepper, Coulson and Hill!"

"So they've been looking after them for the past few weeks?"

"Yeah, the kids have scared off and terrorised anyone else who's been assigned to watch them. I'm hoping because you know them you'll have more of a chance"

"Oh okay, great. Where are Pepper, Phil and Maria now then?"

"Pepper had to go to Japan for some SI meetings; try not to bring her up too often, Natasha gets upset. And I needed Coulson and Hill in work today. We had an emergency."

They came to a halt outside a door; Darcy could hear a commotion going on inside. This was clearly the right room. Fury took a deep breath, offered her an uneasy nod and he opened the door.

Tony was chasing Thor round the table shouting. Bruce was sat on the floor covered in chocolate and wailing, while Steve was trying to reason with Thor and Tony to stop; though the screams and shouts from the other three essentially drowned him out.

"Stop!" Fury yelled; to which the three older boys obeyed. Steve picked Bruce up but his wails did not subside.

"What's going on in here?"

"Thor took the last piece of chocolate!" Tony answered

"I was still hungry!"

"Bruce wanted it so give it back!"

"Boys! Stop arguing. I'll go get some more chocolate just behave!" all four of the boys nodded, and Bruce's crying had stopped on the promise of more chocolate. Now all four of them had shifted their attention from Fury to the young girl stood slightly bewildered behind him.

"This, is your new babysitter; Miss Lewis" Fury announced happily.

"Darcy"

"This is Darcy. Please behave!" Fury turned to speak just to Darcy as all four boys eyed her suspiciously; "I'm going to go grab some more food, and then I really need to try and find the other two. They've been missing for almost an hour"

"Okay sir, but you know; more chocolate might not be such a good idea..."

"Right, yeah, maybe... But it'll keep them quite. I'll be back in a minute"

Darcy smiled nervously at four of her closest friends who had absolutely no idea who she was.

Fury reappeared a few minutes later with more chocolates, sweets and cookies, but also had some fruit and granola bars in his hands for good measure. In the time he'd been gone none of the boys had moved or said a word; just stared at Darcy. It made her feel really uneasy; like they were analysing her and everything she did.  
Tony and Thor gladly took the food from Fury; ignoring the fruit and granola bars completely.

Maria entered a minute later talking on the phone; all four kids ran over to her wearing cheerful smiles on their faces the hugged her tightly before returning to the food.

She covered the end of her phone to speak to Fury; "Where Tasha and Clint? Pepper is on the phone"

Fury did really not want to admit that he'd lost them; especially after all the grief he'd given the others about how simple childcare was. Maria figured it out anyway from his lack of response.

"You lost them didn't you? Pepper, I'll have to ring you back; Fury's lost them. Yeah I know, speak to you later. Bye"

She slammed her phone on the desk and rounded on her boss; "Seriously?! Why didn't you come and tell us?"

"I'll find them; I found them last time"

"They've gone missing more than once?! You've only had them for three hours! And I see you've had to call in help?" She asked gesturing to Darcy in the corner.

Darcy smiled awkwardly at them; Fury and Hill had always made her feel a little uneasy.

"You know she's not even security cleared! We asked to call he in months ago when this all started and you told us we couldn't!"

"The circumstances have changed Hill"

"Right, whatever. Fury; You stay here; me and Darcy will go find the others. Please don't lose any more of them! And kids; stay put! Ring me should they reappear here"

"Hill I think it would be better if someone else stayed here and I go look for-"

"You just want to get out of watching them. You assured us you could do it so stay here and we'll be back as soon as we can. I better text Coulson too... Come on Darcy"

And with that she turned and left the room, Darcy followed after Fury glared angrily at Maria. Wow, she thought no one ever stood up to Fury like that! She was impressed.

"Right, where will they be..." Maria though out loud.


	35. Found

Darcy wondered round the helicarrier; up and down corridor after corridor which all looked the same. It somehow wasn't as impressive as she'd been expecting; but then, these were just all offices and conference rooms. There must be a whole other area of the ship which is much more interesting... and that's exactly what Clint and Natasha much have thought too...

Maria would bet anything that Clint and Natasha had been using the air vents; she knew they sometimes used them as adults to get around the helicarrier and they had definitely used them more than once back at the tower. Every damn room she'd checked was empty, they weren't in the mess hall or the restrooms and she was coming to the end of this section of the ship. They'd definitely gone to seek out something more interesting; and if Maria was honest, she couldn't blame them.

Darcy was hitting away at a security pad trying to figure out the passcode to get through a big steel door when she heard a little voice; "The code is 47713" she looked frantically round her; it was definitely Clint's voice.

Suddenly Clint dropped from the ceiling landing softly beside her, Natasha followed. "Did you forget it?"

"Yes, yes I did. Thank you. How do you know the code?"

"We watched" Natasha answered.

"Very clever, you know you two will make great spies one day" she smiled down at them. "Hey, i'm kind of lost, would you two help me find my way back?"

"Sure, where you wanna go?" Clint smiled back.

"There's a room somewhere, with four other children in it. You know them?"

The two nodded, but now looked at her suspiciously.

"Well I need to get back there, please could you help me?"

They two looked at each other, silently communicating in the exact same way as their adult selves did. They nodded simultaneously; each took one of her hands and dragged her back down the hallway.

Darcy watched them with a smile; Clint's messy blonde hair was sticking up at odd angles, his smile was sweet and his grey eyes took in every detail. Natasha skipped happily by his side, her hair was incredibly long; swinging side to side as she went. He eyes shone brightly with mischief and she smiled happily. They were both dusty from the vents but neither seemed to mind.

When they reached their destination Phil and Maria were both there arguing with Fury; "do you have any idea exactly how big this ship is?!"

"Ah hem" Darcy cleared her throat to alert the others to her presence.

"How did you-"  
"Where were-"  
"How'd you manage-"

"Oh you know, I have a way with kids"

Natasha and Clint dropped Darcy's hands and ran towards the pile of empty chocolate wrappers and sweet packets; "You didn't save us any?" Clint whined to the others.

"We saved you some fruit" Thor smiled back as he finished the last cookie.

Natasha stuck her tongue out at Thor and strode off to stand by Maria. Clint threw an apple; hitting Thor in the head and knocking him off the end of the table he was perched on.

Maria took Natasha and Clint off to speak to Pepper on the phone while Phil went to get some proper food for lunch. Darcy and Steve cleared the big table of rubbish, paper and pens, and dismantled Thor's tower in order to set the chairs up properly. Soon enough all six children were sat around eating sandwiches and chatting enthusiastically to each other.

Fury had gone back to his computer and Phil had disappeared to a meeting with his team. Maria stood with Darcy and smiled at her.

"I make you nervous don't I?"

Darcy was a bit shocked at the abruptness of the question; "N-no, not at all"

"I know I do, but if you're in on this, you're going to have to spend a lot of time with me, so try and relax"

"Right, okay, thanks" she smiles "Do they always-" she gestured to the table

"Yeah, Clint and Natasha always sit on one chair at dinner, share a plate, they even sleep in one bed. They're really close"

"Awww"

"You won't be saying that long. They're all cute when they're behaving nicely, but when they're not; you'll be pulling your hair out. Darcy you need to understand the pressure of watching them; they're superheroes - many villains wand them dead or wish them harm. We have to be vigilant to make sure nothing happens to them, and no one find out about them. Right now they're vulnerable and if anyone does find out; they'd become a target"

"I understand"

"Good. I really must get back to work. Here's my mobile number, please call me if anything happens"

Darcy nodded before turning back to watch the mini-avengers eating their lunch. She couldn't help but stare; they were just too cute.


	36. One-To-Ones

Darcy spent most of the afternoon being briefed by Fury; she was not to publish any photos, videos or comments online, she was not to speak to anyone outside of SHIELD (apart from Pepper, and now Jane) regarding the current state of the avengers, and she was definitely not to speak to any reporters. Once that message had been repeated several times Fury got Darcy signed some paperwork to tie her to it.

"So Director Fury, how long exactly am I employed as 'babysitter'?"

"As long as we need you, I assume that won't be a problem?"

"Do I get paid?"

"I'm sure we can sort something out"

"Cool!"

"Miss Lewis, you do remember our conversation about this being classified?"

"Yeah"

"Good. I've spoken to Pepper, she's having a room made up for you at the tower. Though for the next few days you'll be watching the kids here on the helicarrier. We've learned from experience not to leave them with less than two adults"

"Okay... That sounds ominous"

"Just a precaution; so while Pepper is away and while Phil and Maria are here, it's down to me and you"

"So, if we're going to be here, can't we get some toys or something to occupy them with?"

"I'm having a SHIELD expense account set up for you; you can go shopping tomorrow morning"

"Awesome!"

"Try and spend wisely Miss Lewis, unlike some of the agents believe; we actually don't have unlimited funding"

"Right. Hey director Fury, would you mind if i spent some time talking to each of the kids alone; get to know them a bit better?"

Fury looked over his charges; Bruce was asleep, Clint and Natasha were sat on the floor chatting together quietly and Tony and Thor were discussing football. They were all being quiet and well behaved for now so he didn't see any harm in the absence of one adult from the room.

"Sure, but don't go any further than next door, and don't be too long?"

"Thanks, hey Steve, you wanna come with me first?"

"Okay mam"

"Oh Steve, please, don't ever call me mam!"  
Steve took her hand, blushing slightly as they walked from the room.

* * *

**Steve**

"So Steve, the reason i brought you in here is because i'm going to go shopping tomorrow, to get you guys some toys to play with. What sort of things do you like to play with?"

"I think legos would be good; Tony like building stuff. And Clint likes them too. If Clint's happy then Tasha is happy, and Thor will play with anything"

"What about you Steve? What do you like to do?"

"I like to read, and i like to draw, but i have books and pens at home, you should spend the money on toys for the younger kids"

"Steve honey, I have enough money to get you all something, if you could have anything in the world what would you pick?"

Steve shrugged his shoulders, taking his time to mull over the question; like it was the most important one in the world. "I always wanted a bike" he admitted, his voice timid. "Bucky used to have a really neat one, it was blue and shiny. I always wanted one like that. But i guess that's inappropriate for in here..."

"Yeah, it is a little. But maybe we could get you one when the weather get's nicer; you could ride it in the park?"

"I'd really like that mam - erm, Darcy"

She smiled at him affectionately and ruffled his hair. "Hey, I have an idea; you ever read any comics?"

He shook his head.

"How about I get you some comic books, I think I know of some you'd really like"

Steve smiled brightly in response; "for tomorrow?"

"For tomorrow" Darcy confirmed; "you can go back to the other room now. Would you draw me a picture?" Steve nodded. "And could you send one of the others in for me please?"

"Sure"

* * *

**Thor**

Thor ran into the room a moment later; a bundle of energy, super fueled from the mountain of chocolate and cookies Fury had given him this morning.

"Hey Thor, how're you?"

"I am fine thank you Lady Darcy"  
She couldn't help but smile at the nickname; he still called her that when he was grown.

"So, what have you been up to?"

"I've been discussing the game of 'football' with Tony this afternoon Lady Darcy"

"You like football?"

"Yes, very much so! Football and baseball and basketball. Mister Coulson has taken us to many games"

"Wow you're a lucky kid! So if I was going to get you a new toy to play with, for tomorrow while you're here in the helicarrier, what would you like?"

"I saw an advertisement on the television for a miniature car which can be controlled remotely! I would love one of those!"

"Okay, i'll see what i can do" Darcy said smiling again, adding it to her list. She was beginning to feel a bit like santa! "Could you send Tony in for me please Thor?"

"Of course Lady Darcy. Thank you for your talk"

* * *

**Tony**

Tony appeared before long, dragging a stubborn Bruce by the hand.

"Hi Tony, hi Brucie!"  
At the sudden use of his name Bruce stopped struggling and turned to face Darcy, he had several pieces of paper screwed up in his fist and a marker pen in his other. He smiled brightly, forming dimples in his chubby cheeks and he sat back on the floor and continued his scribbling.

"What's all this about anyway?" Tony asked, looking suspiciously at Darcy.

"I'm here to help out Tony, I'm going to be living with you guys for a little while so I just thought I could meet you and say hi"

"Is that all?"

"Well, I'm also going shopping tomorrow to get some stuff for you guys to play with while you're on board, you got any suggestions?"

Tony reeled off a list a mile long, talking so fast Darcy could barely keep up. He'd suggested everything from a ping pong table and dart board to a chemistry set and a model plane kit. Darcy was sure she could find something appropriate.

"So Tony how do you like living in New York?"

"It's good. I like the zoo and the museum. When it's warm the park is good too, and there's a man there that sells real good ice cream!"

"So you've been on lots of trips over the past few months?"

"Yeah loads! We went to the beach and the cinema, we went bowling too! I'm really good at bowling!"

"I bet you are. So you like to look after Bruce too?"

"Yeah, he's like the little brother I always wanted"

"And the others?"

"Yeah they're okay. It's nice to have other kids around, I was never allowed to play with others before"

"Why's that?"

"I dunno. My dad said so"

"Do you reckon if I could find a game everyone could play together tomorrow, that you would enjoy it?"

"Yeah that sounds good! But Thor cheats sometimes so you gotta watch him closely!"  
Darcy laughed, she could just imagine it.

"Right, so i think my shopping list is long enough now, thanks Tony"

"Seeya later Darcy"

* * *

**Clint**

"Hi Clint!"

"Hi" he responded nervously from his seat, barely making eye contact.

"So... Do you like living in the tower with Pepper, Phil and Maria?"

"Yeah"

"What about the other kids? You get on okay with them?"

"Um hum"

"Clint sweetie, are you okay?"

"I'm fine"

"Then speak to me? Please?" she offered him a bright cheesy grin, hoping to lighten the mood. The others had been bright and chatty, Clint too, had been earlier. She couldn't understand why he'd gone so quite.

"Are you like Mrs Penny?"

"Who- who's Mrs Penny?"

"She used to come to my old house, she asked me and Barney questions. Mum used to get scared when she came round that she'd take us away."

"She was a social worker?"

"I think so"

"Well i'm not like that Clint. I know you're well looked after where you are now, right? You're happy there?"

"Yes"

"Then i'm happy too. So you want to tell me what's so good about living in the tower?"

"There's loads of good things to do. Me and Nat can climb in the vents and go anywhere, don't tell the others but we sneak out our room at night and go explorin'!"

"That sounds like fun" Darcy laughed. Clint's usual excitable demeanour had returned, and along with it; his bright smile. It was one Darcy recognised well. She had a pretty good idea of what Clint would want to play with tomorrow so she let him go back.

* * *

**Natasha**

"Hey Natasha; how're you?"

Natasha jumped up into a chair, sat swinging her legs and avoiding even looking at Darcy; eyes fixed on the floor.

"Tasha?"

"Почему я должен поговорить с вами?" _(Why must I speak with you?)_

"Erm, Tasha; I don't speak Russian, and I know you speak English so please?"

"Но почему? Почему ты здесь? Что вы хотите?" _(But why? Why are you here? What do you want?)_

Natasha had taught Darcy some basic Russian, mostly odd words and some insults (mostly to use on Clint and Tony), but there must have been something useful... She racked her brains for some slither of hope that she could get Natasha to trust her. The one-to-one interview style clearly hadn't sat well with Clint and his memories of his childhood, it apparently was even worse for Natasha.

"Natasha, друг" _(Friend)_

"друг? Это доказать?" _(Friend? Prove it?)_

"Tasha, English? Please?"

"Prove it?"

"Thank you. Look, I know before you came here you were in a bad place, I know there were people there who were unkind and hurt you. But you know you're safe here. Pepper and Maria and Phil, they wouldn't let you be in danger, so can't you trust them? And trust me?"

The little girl took a moment to consider, eyeing Darcy cautiously.  
"Okay, I believe you, we can be friends"

"Great!" Darcy breathed a sigh of relief! "Wow your English is good! How old are you? Five?"

"Yes. Where I was, we had to learn English. We had no choice, they said we were worthless if we could only speak Russian. My friend Aleksandra was the best fighter, the strongest girl, but she could not speak English so they killed her"

Darcy stared at the young girl, shocked at the sudden admittance, and the casualty with which such a small child accepted the murder of her friend.

"I'm – I'm sorry..."

"She was one of many, I'm glad to be here instead. Clint is my best friend, and the others are my family. I've never had a family before"

Darcy was lost for words, for the first time in her life she couldn't think of anything to say. The two of them sat there in silence for a while, before Natasha slipped from her chair and went towards the door. Before she left she turned to speak to Darcy again;

"You seem nice. You can be part of my family too, if you'd like?"

Darcy nodded and smiled, steaming the tears from flowing down her face; "thanks" she added, before getting up, taking Natasha's hand in hers and walking with her to join the others.


	37. Gifts

Darcy went shopping after her first day (well, half day) at work, and stayed at a hotel in town. She'd had to invest in an entire new wardrobe (courtesy of SHIELD) because she'd left most of her things in New Mexico, not planning on the extended stay in New York. Should would be moving into the tower the next day, and she hated to admit that she was apprehensive at the least.

* * *

Darcy arrived at the helicarrier with hopes the day would run better than it had yesterday; with less tears, missing children and not quite so much mess.

When she entered the room they'd been designated that day she saw the six children sat quietly at the table, Clint and Natasha whispering to each other as Maria lectured them on appropriate behavior while aboard the helicarrier. Darcy had entered at the tail end of the lesson, just in time to hear;

"The air vents are not a suitable way to get around the halicarrier Clint and Natasha! And anyone who disobeys these rules, or what they're told by Fury and Darcy will be sent straight to bed after dinner with no deserts!"

Once Darcy had entered the room the children seemed to become even less interested in what Maria was saying and had instead focused on all the bags in her hands. Maria and Coulson said their goodbyes, Maria giving one last warning glare towards Clint and Natasha before turning to leave.  
Fury was tapping away at his compute and hadn't even noticed Darcy had arrived.

She approached the table with a bright smile on her face, all six children staring at her.

"So, I got you guys some stuff to play with today"

"Neat!"

"What'd you get?"

"Thank you!"

"Toys!"

"But you guys have to promise to be good, and listen to us, and be nice to each other, deal?"

"Deal!" came six eager voices. Darcy smiled at them and started digging through her bags; she handed a pile of comic books to Steve, she'd planned to get the latest Avengers comics but wasn't sure how much about their future selves they were aware of; a team of six people with the exact same names might have been a dead giveaway so she went for the latest few issues of Fantastic Four, X-Men and Spiderman. He thanked her enthusiastically before moving over to a smaller table and eagerly opening the first comic.

Thor was given a remote control car, he was so excited he had it out the packaging and wizzing around the floor, crashing into walls before Darcy had a chance to find Tony's gift. She watched him momentarily as he purposely drove it into Director Fury's foot before spinning it round and driving it under the table.

Darcy handed Tony a 'build your own robot' kit. It was aimed at much older age range than Tony, but she figured he could handle it. His bright smile assured her he liked it and she winked at him as she handed him the small pack of screwdrivers he'd need to assemble it.

She'd gotten Bruce a coloring mat; the pen was loaded with water which showed up on the mat in color. She was hoping it would spare the room any further redecoration.

She got Clint a miniature bow and arrow, made of plastic and foam, she also got him a target in the hope he'd be so concerned with practicing and improving his aim that he wouldn't be tempted to shoot at the other kids.

And lastly she got Natasha a kids Polaroid camera and a journal. She explained to Natasha that she can take lots of photos and glue them into the journal; she could decorate it with stickers and glitter and markers and make a family album. She was so pleased with her gift that she threw her arms around Darcy's neck and hugged her tightly, before scurrying off to show Clint her present.

Darcy smiled to herself, content that they'd all been given gifts that they liked and that would hopefully keep them occupied for a while. Darcy had also bought a huge tub of lego, a scalextric set, jigsaws, marble run and a Mr Potato Head, along with Junior Clue, pop –up-pirate, twister and operation.  
She'd gotten a bit excited at the toy shop, but as long as the kids were occupied they were well behaved, and that was the aim!


	38. Rough Day

Several days later and SHEILD had successfully transformed its largest conference room into a day care center. The walls were covered in pictures the kids had drawn and photos Natasha had taken. There was lego **everywhere**, jigsaws scattered over the tables and sweet wrappers overflowing from the trash can.

Darcy thought that she and Fury made a great team. Fury did the yelling and the stern glances, while Darcy played with them, tickled them and persuaded them to eat their veg. Today would be the last day they'd have to spend on the helicarier as Pepper was on her way home from Japan.  
Darcy loved living in the tower and couldn't get enough of the kids, they were just irresistible. She and Maria actually got on really well and she already felt a part of the family.  
She'd taken some photos of the kids on her phone and sent them to Jane now that she'd been informed of what was actually going on. Jane was desperate to come and see them but had a strict work schedule for the next few weeks.

As well as everything was going with the kids, SHIELD was not having so much luck. The emergency Fury had called Hill and Coulson in for (which Darcy unfortunately didn't have the security clearance to know about) had spiraled drastically out of control. All Darcy knew was how much Fury ranted about his two best field agents being 'not in a state to help', She'd noticed how much he hated to admit that they'd been reduced to children, even to himself.

His phone had been going off all morning and by 11 he'd had to excuse himself to his office; promising to send down another agent to lend Darcy a hand. An hour later, after the kids had guessed he wasn't returning and started running amok, Agent Parkinson arrived. He told Darcy he'd been sent to take the youngest two to Fury. Darcy found this strange as Natasha was perhaps one of the hardest to keep under control; especially (she'd learnt) when she wasn't with Clint, and Fury knew that. But she nodded, distracted, as she tried to separate Tony and Thor from their fighting while simultaneously trying to get Clint down from where he was hanging from the air vents in the ceiling.

* * *

An hour later a disgruntled looking Coulson arrived at the room, asking Darcy to take Clint down to medical. Darcy looked confused, so Coulson took her to one side to explain the situation;  
Agent Parkinson had taken Bruce and Natasha to medical instead of delivering them to Fury. He'd specifically asked for the youngest two thinking they'd be the easiest and most compliant when it came down to running the tests medical wanted results for, not realising which members of the Avengers that included. Natasha had reacted badly to say the least; she'd broken Agent Parkinson's wrist (which almost everyone agreed he deserved) and retreated, with Bruce, to the far corner of the medical bay, threatening anyone who came even close with a scalpel.

Darcy looked at the man in disbelief;

"But why would Parkinson-"

"Medical have wanted to run more tests on the kids since this first happened, but Pepper, Maria and I refused. They were no signs that anything detrimental to their health had occurred and we didn't think it necessary. Clearly one of the medics had persuaded Parkinson these tests were needed and convinced him to take them there."

"Poor Tasha"

"Yeah, I can't think of any of the kids who would've reacted worse; she's terrified of the doctors, and who can blame her after her past? No one can get her to calm down, including me or Maria. We really need Pepper but she's not due to land for another few hours"

"So you want me and Clint?"

"Yeah, Clint and Pepper are usually the best to deal with her when she's freaked out, maybe take Tony too; Bruce is clinging to Natasha for dear life... I'll stay here with Thor and Steve"

"Right okay... And which way is medical?"

* * *

Darcy heard the commotion on the medical bay far before she reached it. Fury was yelling; literally screaming (Darcy had never heard anything more terrifying in her life) at Parkinson and several medical officers. He had just gotten to **"YOU'RE ALL FIRED! NOW GET THE HELL OFF MY SHIP!"** as Darcy rounded the corner with Clint and Tony. Clint stuck his tongue out at them as they filed past.

Maria greeted Darcy and spoke gently to Clint and Tony, explaining as best she could the situation and asking them if they thought they could calm down the other children. They were both eager to help and Darcy felt oddly proud of them as they disappeared down the medical bay, to return a short while later; Tony carrying a shaken looking Natasha, while Clint held Bruce's hand, who was rubbing at his teary eyes as he toddled between the two elder boys.

Fury apologised profusely to Hill, who was surprised her boss even knew the word 'sorry'.  
Natasha wrapped her arms tightly round Tony's neck, who carried her the whole way back to the play room. Once there she retreated silently to the corner with Clint. Coulson raised his eyebrows in a silent question to Hill as they re-entered, to which she replied merely with an eye roll.

It had been a rough day so the nine of them left early with little complaint from Fury. They arrived back at the tower at the precise moment Pepper climbed out of her car; Natasha's eye lit up as she ran towards her, hugging her tightly. The other kids followed and Darcy took the opportunity to snap a photo with Natasha's camera, smiling at the happiness on all six of the kids faces.

With the events of the day instantly forgotten the kids and Pepper settled down on the sofas with hot chocolate and blankets to watch their Toy Story 2 DVD (it had to be 2; Natasha insisted there wasn't enough girls in the first).  
Darcy ordered take out for dinner while Maria and Phil finished up their paperwork; Fury had agreed they could have tomorrow off to make up to kids what had happened today.


	39. Looking Back

All six of the children were soundly asleep by the time the credits rolled at end of the film.  
Thor was still clutching a mostly empty bowl of popcorn while Steve was lay beside him snoring softly. Clint was lay on Tasha; his arms wrapped protectively around her, while she slept leaning on Tony, Bruce was curled up beside him sucking his thumb.

Between the four adults they got them all into bed before returning to settle in the lounge on the now vacated sofas and allowed Darcy to ask the questions they knew she was desperately waiting to

"So, Tasha doesn't like the doctors?"

"She's terrified. If you knew her past it wouldn't surprise you" Coulson answered

"But she's so tiny! Already, at that age they were messing with her?"

"It's not been easy; all of them had hard childhoods, Natasha moreso. When they first got here Clint flinch every time one of us would move too suddenly, and Tony would never dare ask for help with anything. Steve barely ate; afraid we'd run out of food and Tasha freaked out any time a door was shut; panic stricken she'd be locked in. Thor and Bruce haven't been too bad, but it's still been a challenge"

"It's heartbreaking" Darcy said quietly, peering up the hallway where the team of miniature superheroes slept

The other three nodded in agreement

"What else did they do when you first got them?" Darcy queries, hoping for some more lighthearted tales

"Thor was amazed at everything" Maria smiled at the memory, "he saw everything with a naive innocence, and was always excited to learn what things were called, how they worked and what they were used for"

"Tony loves looking and taking apart the StarkTech round the tower, he insists he's going to make better things when he grows up" Phil added, looking at the StarkPad which lay on the floor, half dissembled.

"Natasha didn't even know what a toy was, she used to sit in silence and watch the others playing. It took her weeks to figure it out and even then I don't think she was sure why she was playing with them" Pepper laughed, remembering the confusion on the little girls face the first time she'd handed her a black widow figurine.

Darcy smiled; it was like listening to parents talk fondly about their kids. She certainly had never thought of Maria Hill, Phil Coulson and Pepper Potts as parents before now.

"Have SHIELD figured out why? I mean why the different ages?"

"Something in that warehouse exploded, we assume Bruce was the closest, Tasha next, and Steve the furthest out, but we have no idea. They don't remember the explosion"

"How much do they know?"

"They all remember their childhoods, unfortunately, and then waking up in a warehouse and being found by Phil. They seem to have kept some awareness of the present day though. None of them have asked about their families, or questioned the change year, or why they're in New York. They trust each other, as well as us, as if they're familiar, but they don't really know why. They've just accepted the new situation"

The four of them stopped their conversation momentarily as they heard something from down the hall. Pepper got up and went to listen, after a few minutes she returned to her seat

"It's just Tasha, she has nightmares" Pepper informed Darcy

"Shouldn't you check on her?"

"No, it's sort of a nightly occurrence; she's fine as long as she's with Clint"

"Do you think they'll remember all this when they're back to normal?"

"I hope so, we've worked really hard to try and give them a happy childhood this time round, I'd like to think that they'd all have at least a few good childhood memories that way" Phil answered

"Yeah, that'd be nice" Darcy said quietly, thinking fondly of her six friends, who were currently tucked up in bed, wearing footsie pajamas and clutching various stuffed animals


	40. One of Us

Darcy woke up the next morning determined to make it a good day for the six child superheroes.  
She'd been awake most of the night suffering nightmares that she lost one of the children; that Natasha was kidnapped, Tony ran off or Thor got lost and eventually she gave up trying to sleep  
She got up and went to help herself to some coffee.

Natasha and Clint had gotten up at some point in the night and fallen asleep again on the sofa watching Tangled.  
Phil joined Darcy shortly after, smiling. He was already dressed in his usual suit; Darcy suddenly realised she was dressed in nothing but shorts and a captain America tee and went rather red.  
Scurrying back to her room, by the time she re-entered the lounge suitably dressed the other kids were up and crowded round the table eating their breakfast. Clint had woken, but stayed put on the sofa as Natasha was still asleep lay across him.

"So what's the plan for today?" Darcy asked, taking a seat next to Bruce who tried to share his juice with her

"Can we go to the park? It's not raining!" Tony asked Phil excitedly

"No, not today. I'm sorry but Maria is ill and Pepper is jet lagged"

"We could take them, couldn't we?" Darcy asked quietly, all four boys heads swiveled to face Phil, Clint too turned to watch the conversation, shifting too much which caused Natasha to fall from the sofa  
She was less than impressed, but her mood improved dramatically when Phil agreed they could go to the park for the day.

All six children went and got dressed.  
Natasha insisted on leaving a note for Pepper to let her know where they'd gone, and Steve made sure Maria was well topped up with medication before they left.

By the time they were ready to leave it was lunch time, so Darcy insisted on taking them all out for food before they went to the park (she still had access to the shield expense account)

They finally made it to the park and the kids scattered; Tony played a game of spy with Clint and Natasha, determined to lean to climb trees as well as the two younger children.

"Swing? Swing?" Bruce requested, running as fast as his little legs would carry him; Steve followed and helped the toddler up into the seat. "Higher Steve! Higher!" Bruce giggled as the wind tossed his curly hair back out of his face.

"Hey Thor, what do you want to do?" Phil asked, watching him as he stared at Tony chasing Natasha up the tree.

"Could we play catch?" he asked

"I don't think we have anything to-"

"There's a tennis ball in my bag Thor, you can use that" Darcy told him, getting up to go see if Steve wanted a break so he could go do something a little more interesting

"Phil! Phil!" Clint ran up behind him shouting "Can we have a drink please?" his blond hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat

"Sure we can, just give me a-"  
But Phil was cut off when Thor accidentally aimed Darcy's taser at him. He fell to the floor as Thor and Clint looked at each other with wide eyes

"What did you do?!"

"I didn't mean to!"

"Is he dead?"

"I don't think so. I rather hope not!"

"What is that?"

"I'm unsure. It was in Darcy's bag"

"Why would she have that?"

"I don't know"

"We should get Darcy! DARCY!"

Darcy came running back over, followed by Steve and Bruce, there was a bit of a crowd gathering now as well

"What on earth-?"

"I am sorry Lady Darcy. It was an accident"

"Oh bud. It's okay, we should probably get Phil to the hospital though"

During the commotion no one had notice Natasha and Tony getting further and further away, racing from tree to tree and rolling down the hill.

"Tony, where are the others?" Natasha asked when she realised she couldn't see them

"They're just over there, come on. I bet I can beat you to that tree!"

"Oh no you can't!" she said, breaking out into a run instantly; her competitive side had taken over and she forgot all about her earlier concerns

"Tony! Tasha! Where are you guys?" Darcy was shouting, panic stricken "Oh shit this is not good! This is really not good at all. I'm gonna be so fired!"

"Darcy, what's fired?" Clint asked

"It's what happens when you lose two mini superheroes in the middle of New York"

"Who's mini superheroes? We were playing spy. They're spies Darcy" Clint corrected

"Damn damn damn!"

"I don't think we're supposed to say that word. Maria tells us off if we say that" Steve told her politely

"Steve, where would Tony and Natasha have gone?"

"I don't know. Natasha usually won't go anywhere without Clint"

"Oh fuck!" Darcy shouted, Steve gasped at her language but she didn't have time to apologise. She was too busy reliving her nightmare of the kids being kidnapped; she suddenly felt very, very sick.

The paramedics eventually arrived to take Phil to the hospital, he was pretty much fine but should get checked over anyway  
"Are you coming?" the female EMT asked her

"I can't, I lost two of the kids. I have to find them"

She nodded, seemingly counting the four boys in front of her and guessing they couldn't all be hers, at least Darcy hoped she was thinking she was too young to have six kids!

After Natasha had beaten Tony once again at climbing the biggest tree they could find he no longer wanted to play. He was sulking because a younger girl had beaten him once again and decided the game was over.

"Let's go find Phil, maybe we can convince him to get us an ice cream"

"Okay, which way is Phil?" Natasha asked, looking round. They'd wondered somewhat out of the park and into the woods now and she wasn't sure which way they'd come from

"Erm..." Tony said, scratching his head and turning slowly in circles; trying to recognise a path or a tree... "This way!" he announced confidently, sensing the rise in anxiety from his younger friend

"You're sure?"

"Of course I am. I'm Tony Stark; I'm always sure!" he grabbed her hand and dragged her forward

"But Tony! You pointed that way!" Natasha said, pointing over to the left from where he was heading

"Well I meant this way"

"You're lost too aren't you?"

"No. I'm fine. We're fine. I'll get us back"

Pepper woke at half three, to her it was still the middle of the night; a 14 hour time difference was really throwing her off.  
She walked down the hallway to get some coffee and found a note from Natasha; smiling as she read it, she took a glass of water to Maria and returned to her room to get dressed. Her phone was flashing and showed three missed calls from Darcy  
Ot oh  
She rang her back instantly, almost afraid of what she'd hear

"Darcy?"

"Pepper! Oh thank God!"

"Whats happened?" she asked through a yawn

"Phil's in the hospital. Thor shot him with my taser. It was accidental. But I can't find Natasha and Tony"

Pepper's heart seemed to stop momentarily; were they lost? Hiding? Or had they been taken?

"Where are you?"

"At the park"

"I'll be right there"

Pepper ran out the tower as quickly as she could, not even pausing to get dressed or inform Maria of what was happening. She drove the short distance down the road, normally she would walk it but she couldn't delay getting there by even a second today

"Tony slow down!"

"No you keep up!"

"But I only have little legs"  
He sighed but slowed his pace, he knew he was heading in the wrong direction, but couldn't admit it to Natasha. He'd been trying to veer off to where he thought they ought to be heading but so far they hadn't seen another person for what seemed like hours

Pepper arrived to find a very flustered looking Darcy, clutching Bruce while talking to two police officers who'd been called by one of the people who'd watched the whole thing unfold.

"Darcy, you finish up here, I'll take Steve and Clint and start looking round" Pepper told her, before whispering "Be very careful what you say!"

"They was climbing trees" Clint informed her, as they headed towards where Tony and Natasha had last been seen

"Okay, do you think they would have carried on climbing trees or gone to do something else?"

"Carried on. Tony wanted to beat Tasha to the top real bad but she's too good at climbing, she says she's not allowed to lose"

"Right, come on. Let's hope we can find them before it starts to go dark"

Tony heard the sound of cars and people talking in the distance; he'd done it! He'd found their way back... Almost. His route had taken them slightly too far south and they'd missed the park altogether, but back on the sidewalk both he and Natasha recognised a few of the shops they'd visited over the past few weeks; Joey's pizza and the supermarket mainly, and from there they knew their way back to the tower.

They reached front entrance before realising they couldn't get in

"What do we do now?" Natasha asked

"Pepper and Maria are in right? We can use the intercom and they can let us in and then ring Phil and Darcy to tell them where we are"

"Can you reach the intercom?"

"No"

Natasha rolled her eyes, looking up at the metal panel by the front door she doubted even if he lifted her up she could reach it

"What are you kids doing here?" they both jumped slightly as a large man approached them from behind. He was unkempt and dirty; his front teeth were missing and cigarette stains were clear on his face and hands, a few weeks worth of stubble was still evident on his face and he smelt terrible.

Tony shifted slightly to be stood in front of Natasha

"Just waiting" he responded

"If you're waiting for The Avengers you'll be waiting an awfully long time!"

"Who're the-"

"I reckon they're dead I do... Hey, aren't you Potts' niece?" he leered "Natalie Potts!" he added, remembering the photos in the New York Times. "Who're you?" he asked Tony

"Her brother"

"No you ain't. Her brother has blonde hair"

"Her other brother. Idiot" Tony responded. He had had enough now.

"If you're really related to Potts you might be worth something" he grinned reaching out a filthy hand towards Tony. Natasha was too fast for him though; she kicked him forcefully in his shin and pushed him to the ground. Placing a small foot on his fat neck she pressed down with all her weight and muttered "Don't touch him"

Tony stared at her in amazement, as did the guy lay on the ground; thoroughly shocked that he'd just been taken down by a five year old girl

"Natasha? Tony?" came a voice from a taxi which had just pulled up. A thin woman with long dark hair that neither of them recognised climbed out of the cab and took in the scene in front of them. Grabbing each of their hands and dragging them backwards away from the stranger

"I suggest you leave. Now" she told him sternly,;he got up and ran off

"Where are the others? Where's Pepper and Phil?"

They silently stared at her; they didn't know who she was. They seemed to agree that she wasn't a threat to them as they hadn't tried to flee, but they hadn't decided to trust her yet either

"Oh my God this is weird..." she stuttered, taking in their appearances. "Is there anyone in the tower?"

Natasha nodded

"Who?"

"Maria" she told her quietly

Using the intercom to gain access, she took the two silent children up to the 63rd floor as instructed by Hill

"Jane? What are you doing here?" Maria asked, her voice sounded fuzzy and not entirely her own due to the cold she had

"I couldn't bear being away any longer, knowing what's happened here. I can't stay long but I needed to come visit. I had to see for myself"

"And now what do you think?"

"I can't believe it... Still... Just look at them... It's so, so... weird!"

"Tell me about it! So How come you ended up with Tony and Tasha?"

"They were just outside when I got here. There was a creep giving them some hassle but Natasha took care of him" she smiled at the small red head who smiled in return

"Wait so where are the others?"

"They're at the park! Maria you have to phone them, we got lost so they're probably looking for us" Tony stammered, only just remembering the urgency behind what he had needed to tell her

A long conversation with Darcy later; Maria hung up the phone.

"They're on their way back now. They just need to pick Phil up on the way"

"Where's Phil?" Jane asked, brushing Natasha's long hair

"A&E, apparently Thor tased him"

The two women laughed, even if it shouldn't have been funny

Darcy walked through the door first, carrying a very tired Bruce.  
Thor ran in next and Jane gasped when she saw him; her boyfriend was now a ten year old, she had know that for the past few days, but seeing it for herself made it all very real... And very strange.  
The others followed and lastly Pepper came in, still wearing her pajama pants, hoody and Ugg boots she'd never normally be seen outside of the tower in, and carrying several large pizza boxes

"Please don't ever ever do that to me again" Darcy told Tony and Natasha as she walked past. They smiled up at her sheepishly;

"We're sorry, we got lost" Tony told her

"We're really really sorry" Natasha added, frowning sadly

"How do you ever stay mad at that?" Darcy asked, pointing to Natasha and looking to Pepper and Maria for an answer

Natasha climbed out of Jane's lap and went over to Clint. He hugged her and questioned her relentlessly if she was okay, Pepper picked them both up and kissed them on their cheeks. She had missed them so much while she'd been away.

Thor ventured over to Jane; "You look familiar" he told her, smiling

"You remind me of someone also" she told him

"Would you like some pizza?"

"I'd love some"

Later that night, when all the mini-avengers were finally sleeping Darcy apologised to Phil, and to the others for losing sight of the kids while they were in the park;

"Don't worry Darce, you're not really one of until you've lost at least one of them!" Pepper told her with a smile


	41. Being a Superhero is Fun

"Darcy, what's your job?" Clint asked the next morning after breakfast. He was currently lay on his stomach in the lounge helping Bruce build a tower. He'd been wondering since Jane excused herself to phone work, Pepper was answering important emails in her room and both Phil and Maria had gone to the office for a few hours on 'emergency business'

"Well, right now I'm a superhero wrangler"

"What's a wrangler?"

"It's like a babysitter"

"But you babysit us" Clint said, confused

"Yep"

"But we're not superheroes"

"No, but you could be"

"Like play pretend?"

"Why not, you want to play?"

"Yeah!" Clint shouted enthusiastically, "Hey Steve, Tony, Thor! We're gonna play superheroes!" he shouted, running down the hallway to get the older boys

"Hey Nat, you wanna be a superhero?"

"No thank you"

"Why not?"

"I just don't..." she said sadly

Darcy sensed she'd probably said something she shouldn't; Natasha had gone very quiet and discarded the lego she was playing with.

"Well what do you want to be?"

"I wanted to be a ballerina, but I'm not allowed anymore"

"What do you-"  
"They're coming!" Clint announced excitedly "Hey Darcy, can I have a bow and arrow as my weapon? Like Legolas in Lord of the Rings? That'd be cool for a superhero right?"

"Sure you can sweetie, it'd be very cool" she smiled

A thought suddenly entered Darcy's head; "Hey Tasha, how old are you?"

"She's five" Clint answered for her, searching the toy chest for the toy bow and arrows Darcy had given him as a gift when she'd first joined the team of babysitters

"I'll be right back" Darcy said, getting up from her place on the floor. "Watch Bruce for me"

She wondered down the hallway and knocked on Pepper's door

"Come in"

"Hey Pepper, how you doing?"

"I'm good. How're you doing?" she asked suspiciously

"I was just wondering... Is it possible for me to read their files? I mean I know some stuff about their pasts... But"

"I'm not even allowed to read their files" Pepper cut her off, but she knew how frustrating it was. They were suppose to look after their friends but knew a limited amount about their pasts. "It is something particular bothering you?"

"I just feel like I'm constantly saying things I shouldn't, upsetting them by reminding them of their pasts"

"It is difficult, but it's not really in the past for them anymore, it's recent and raw. They each have their own specific trigger; for Steve it's the mention of the year. He's perfectly comfortable with the technology, and how much everything is different, but mention the year we're in and it sends him sulking for days. Tony is fine as long as you avoid mentioning his parents, and Thor is okay as long as no one mentions Loki; he's the only one of the children to become homesick, and only when he misses his brother. Clint is a bit funny about his past in general, but he's pretty good at ignoring subjects which make him uncomfortable, turning it into a joke or changing the subject. Natasha is a difficult one to figure out... Some things I was sure would upset her, but she'd be fine, other things which I never even thought to consider can cause her mood to drop dramatically"

"She mentioned she wanted to be a ballerina..."

"She loved to dance, she still does... Natasha; the adult Natasha, once told me that's where they found her. A guy named Ivan saw her at her dance class and decided she'd be perfect for the training. The Red Room made her continue her dance lessons; she was gifted, but they told her that wasn't what her body was for anymore"

"But she's _five_; they were already messing with her?

"Yeah, for almost a year now. She was taken on her fourth birthday"

"That's just shit" Darcy replied, there was just no adequate word...

Darcy wondered back down the hallway, feeling saddened and wishing she hadn't pried into Natasha's past.

But her spirits were lifted when she walked into the lounge. Clint was sat on top of the kitchen table shooting his plastic arrows while Tony ran round with his StarkPad, using sound effects on the table to make explosion noises. Steve was using a pillow as a shield while Bruce stomped around shouting "Smash! Smash!". Thor had joined in and tied a blanket round his neck like a cape, "I'm flying! No one can stop me!" he called as he ran round the room, his cape blowing behind him, and Clint had even gotten Natasha to join in by convincing her girls needed to be superheroes too.  
Jane had returned from her phone call and ended up playing the bad guy, Natasha was clinging to her back while Jane ran away from Thor and Tony.

"Can I play?" Darcy asked, but regretted it when one of Clint's arrows hit her in the face

"She has an accomplice!" Tony bellowed, pointing to Darcy. Okay, this wasn't quite what she'd expected... Thor leapt at Jane and helped Natasha take her down while the others turned their attention to Darcy; it took only minutes for her to be captured too.

"See Tasha, being a superhero is fun!" Clint told her smiling, and Darcy was relieved to see the little girl smiling back, nodding in agreement


	42. Relationships

"Pepper, do you have a boyfriend?" Natasha asked one morning at breakfast

_Wow. This is awkward_ Pepper thought, glancing over to the nine year old Tony lay on the floor playing a game with Bruce

"I do. But he's gone away for a little while?"

"On a holiday?" Natasha asked, furrowing her forehead slightly in confusion.

"No not really..."

"Well why'd he go away?"

"For work"  
_Well, that was the nearest to the truth she could get without it getting weird..._

"How long for?"

"I'm not sure yet sweetie"

"Do you miss him?"

"Very much. But sometimes it feels like he's still nearby" she said, smiling

"What's his name?"

"T- Anthony"

"Hey that's my name!" Tony called from the floor

"No! You names **Tony**!" Bruce corrected him

"Tony is short for Anthony, like Tasha is short for Natasha and Clint is short for... What is Clint short for?"

"I'm not telling you!" Clint said and Natasha laughed. He really hated his full name

"Why did you ask about my boyfriend Natasha?" Pepper wondered aloud where this conversation had come from

"Because Darcy doesn't have a boyfriend. She should though; everyone else does. Jane's boyfriend lives really really far away"

"What about Maria? She doesn't have a boyfriend"

"Yes she does"

"Who?" pepper asked puzzled

"Phil!" both Natasha and Clint answered in unison, with a tone of 'duh!' in their voices

Pepper almost choked on her coffee.

"Where did you get that idea from?" Pepper asked, trying not to laugh

"They're _always _together" Natasha told her

"And they have lots of jokes only them too understands" Clint added

"Yeah, plus they always agree on _everything_!" Tony chimed in  
So apparently it was a universal thought among the kids...

"But what about you two, you do all of those things" Pepper asked Natasha and Clint, smiling knowlingly. Their adult selves were dating, everyone knew; even if they pretended not to. Clint and Natasha weren't nearly as subtle as they thought they were...

The two children looked at each for a second before exclaiming "Noooooo!" and laughing

But Tony picked up on it and instantly started teasing them

Clint and Natasha darted down from their chair and started chasing Tony round the lounge as Phil and Maria joined Pepper, both still in their pajamas. Pepper couldn't help but laugh when she caught the eye roll Natasha gave them while Clint was trying desperately to stop Tony talking by covering his mouth with his hand.


	43. Discipline Techniques

While Jane had gone into SHIELD for a few hours to use some of the lab equipment, the four other adults enjoyed a rare quite moment in the kitchen; Thor had insisted on accompanying Jane and the other five were playing nicely in the lounge.

That was until it was abruptly interrupted by a loud crash and the sound of shouting from the lounge.

"I bet you $10 it's Tony's" whispered Maria

"I bet you$20 Clint and Natasha" Phil counted

"I bet you both $100 that it's all three of them!" Darcy said tiredly, receiving an eye roll from Pepper.

"I guess I'll go then" Pepper stated, noting how none of the other three had moved from their seats despite the arguing and crying still going on in the other room.

* * *

"What's going on?" Pepper asked as she entered the lounge

Natasha, Clint and Tony all started to respond, shouting louder to be heard over the others. Natasha was stood on the table, while Clint and Tony were stood on the floor amidst a pile of lego, beside a screaming Bruce.

"Right, okay okay. Shush!" Pepper told them, silencing the three older children while she picked Bruce up from the floor

"One at a time" she warned them, but before she could tell them who could go first all three started shouting again

Pepper closed her eyes, it had been a long day; hell, it'd been a long few weeks, and she had an ever growing headache.

After ten minutes of arguing among themselves Natasha, Clint and Tony stopped when they realised Pepper had given up waiting and left the room.

They looked at each other confused before she re entered, noticing they were now quiet

"You ready to be quiet now?" she asked sternly. The three of them nodded. "Good, then listen"

Steve had told Pepper what had happened while they'd been too preoccupied shouting; Natasha and Clint had been playing a game of spies and Bruce had wanted to play, they'd told him he was too young and suggested he help Tony with his lego. Tony however hadn't wanted help as he was building a large, complicated lego model of a robot, so when Bruce tried to join in he'd told him not to touch anything. Bruce had become frustrated and grabbed the lego, breaking the robot model which was taller than Bruce himself and had taken Tony all morning. Tony had yelled at Bruce, who started to cry. Then he yelled at Clint, Clint yelled back, and Natasha joined in and the whole thing had gotten worse when the rest of Tony's 'robot' had collapsed and shattered on the floor...

"First, Natasha get down off the table"

She did as she was told, but scowled at Tony when he stuck his tongue out and whispered 'I told you you weren't allowed to stand on there!'

"Tony!" she warned, before continuing "I know Bruce is a lot younger than you guys..."

"He's not _that_ much younger than Tasha" Tony said, emphasizing Natasha's name, and Pepper glared, Cling grabbed Natasha's wrist before she could hit Tony and get herself in more trouble

"But he likes to play with you guys, so be nicer to him" Pepper finished, not in the mood for lectures

She was surprised at Tony; he was normally the most tolerant of Bruce and liked to make sure he was always involved

"I'm sorry Pepper" Natasha whispered, eyes on the floor by her feet

"Me too!" Clint told her when Natasha elbowed him

"And me, I'm sorry Bruce, I just _really_ wanted to finish my robot"

"Can you all play together now?" Pepper asked, though it wasn't so much a question as an order

They all nodded and Bruce smiled happily

* * *

As Pepper left the room Tony turned to the two mini assassins and whispered; "Since you two are so in love, why don't you play Mom, Dad and baby?" he sniggered, running off as Natasha tried to hit him. Clint scowled and threw a load of lego at Tony.

Once again arguing could be heard from the kitchen and Pepper sighed; "It is not my turn"

Phil and Maria nominated Darcy to go seeing as how she'd just won $200 off them

She stormed into the room, slamming the door and shouted "Oi! Cut it out!" before walking back into the kitchen

"That's it?" Pepper asked

"Well it worked didn't it?"

* * *

"3... 2... 1..." Phil counted down, and sure enough there was a crashing sound as he called out 1

"Phil" Darcy told him it was now his turn.

He walked slowing into the lounge, sat quietly on the sofa and watched them, after a few minutes the three arguing children had wondered what he was doing and stopped to turn and face him

"Hear that?" he asked them

"No" Clint answered, confused

"Exactly, that's what I want to hear from now on. And if I hear you three arguing again you will be in serious trouble" he told them, leaving the room

The silence lasted less than 30 seconds

* * *

"Your turn" he told Maria, who sighed getting up from her seat; "Can't we just get Steve to control them, he managed well enough when he was an adult" she said on her way to the lounge

"I'm 5 minutes away from sending those three to be watched by Fury for the day" Pepper answered

Natasha and Tony were wrestling now; Natasha was much more skilled, and incredibly agile. But Tony had his size and weight on his side. Clint seemed to be sitting this one out, sat to the side reading a book to Bruce

Maria grabbed Natasha's arm in her left hand and Tony's in her right, dragging them down the hall and ignoring their protests; she put them both in Tony and Bruce's bedroom and told them to settle the argument in here so no one else had to listen to them argue, Maria left, locking them in.  
Some time alone should help them see eye to eye she hoped.

* * *

Natasha stood by the door with her arms crossed, staring angrily at Tony. Tony just sauntered round the room with the arrogant attitude he had perfected, before sitting smugly on his bed

"This is your fault" she told him

"What's the matter, missing your _boyfriend_?"

Natasha wasn't just angry, she was furious. Tony had been teasing her and Clint about this for almost a week. He was relentless.

"Why do you do that?" she asked, sounding sad and sinking to sit on the floor

"Do what?" he asked, shocked at her change in mood, he'd been waiting for her to pounce at him

"You make people mad on purpose"

Tony shrugged, he guessed it was true; the only reaction he ever used to get from his dad was when he was mad

"Well you shouldn't!" Natasha told him firmly

"I'm sorry" he admitted quietly, now it was Natasha's turn to be shocked. She wasn't expecting him to break so easily

"You can be nice sometimes you know" she told him, and he smiled. "I like you when you're nice" she added, earning herself an even bigger smile from Tony

"I like you when you're not kicking my ass" he told her and she giggled

"This is fun, it's like being a real big brother" Tony told Natasha, pulling her up from the floor where she sat and dragging her gently over to his bed so she could sit next to him

"You don't have any brothers or sisters?" she questioned him

"No. I always wanted some though. What about you?"

She shrugged; "Don't remember, I don't know my family"  
Tony sensed her tone and didn't push her on the topic anymore

"You wanna break out of here?" he asked her instead, earning himself a big grin from the younger girl

"I can pick the lock" she told him

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Go on Maria, how'd you do it?" Darcy asked, amazed when another argument didn't erupt when she left the lounge

"I just have a way with kids" she told them, making Pepper laugh and Phil snort into his tea.

"Maria" Tony called, and the four adults looked up to see Tony and Natasha peering out of the air vents at them

"We're friends again, can we come out now?" he called, smiling mischievously as the three other adults turned to stare disbelievingly at Maria


	44. Temporarily Seperated

Clint had been ill for the last few days. He'd been struggling with a bad cough, not that it had stopped him running around like a mad man with the others, but it was getting worse, and several coughing fits had resulted in him vomiting.  
Concerned, Jane suggested they take him to the doctors to get checked over, she was worried it could be whooping cough, and if that were the case, he'd need some antibiotics and closer monitoring for the complications which could develop, not to mention the fact he could be highly contagious and the last thing they wanted was six ill children.

Pepper gathered the ever weakening child in her arms, wrapped in his blanket and turned to follow Jane to the elevator. Natasha ran up behind them, fully intending to accompany her friend to the doctors, despite her overwhelming fear of them

"Tasha, sweetie, I need to stay here with the others for me, okay?" Pepper explained to her gently, but she felt instantly guilty when Natasha's green eyes grew wide and her lips pouted

"We'll be back soon" Jane reassured her, before the three of them left together, Clint waved sadly over Pepper's shoulder at his best friend.

The others all watched as Natasha didn't move from her spot, watching as the elevator made it's decent down to the basement where the garage was situated

She still hadn't moved 15 minutes later, and it saddened the others just how lost she was without Clint

Tony approached her slowly, placing a comforting arm over her shoulders and telling her "Don't worry Nat, he'll be back soon"  
She nodded and went with Tony as he dragged her back to the lounge where The Little Mermaid was playing on the TV, however her eyes never left the elevator

Several hours later Pepper had rang to inform the others that Clint did have whooping cough, and they were waiting on some tests to figure out which antibiotics he would need. The doctors were also concerned about sending him back to a house with five other children in case they too became ill

As bed time approached, no one had had the heart to tell Natasha that Clint would be staying in the shield medical bay overnight, and possibly for the next few days until he was no longer contagious

Phil and Maria herded the other children to bed, leaving Darcy to tackle Natasha; she was now sat on the floor by the elevator, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them.

"Tasha, you want to go to bed?"

"No thank you"

"It's getting late, and you look tired"

"I'd like to wait for Clint first. I can't sleep without him"

_Damn, Darcy knew it was a bad idea to offer to put Nat to bed, she should have taken Bruce and let Phil deal with this like they'd first planned_

Darcy scooped the little girl up from the floor, noting how tired she actually was when she didn't try and struggle free from her grip.  
Sitting back on the sofa, Darcy held Natasha until she fell asleep on her lap, Darcy too fell asleep, and the pair of them slept like that on the sofa until morning

Natasha took up watching the elevator once again as soon as she woke, but Darcy had had some concerns since she'd woken

"Phil, does Natasha feel a little warm to you?"

Phil wondered over to where she sat, cross legged, waiting for her friend to come home and placed his hand on her forehead. She frowned at him, but didn't budge from her spot

He turned back to Darcy and nodded; "We'll keep an eye on her, but if anyone was going to catch the same thing as Clint it'd make sense for it to be her; they go everywhere together"

By mid afternoon Natasha was definitely running a fever, and the coughing fits had started not long after breakfast. She seemed to be developing symptoms far faster than Clint did, and by lunch time when Pepper and Jane returned to the tower to grab a change of clothing, she was really really ill; Darcy was just cleaning her up from a nose bleed when the two women arrived back at the tower.

When Natasha realised Clint wasn't with them her bottom lip quivered as she begged Pepper to take her to see him

"Why didn't you tell us she was so ill?" Pepper asked Phil as she hurriedly dried her hair following the rushed shower she'd had. She knew if Natasha needed to go to the doctors she'd have to be the one to take her, she was going to freak out enough as it was

"Pepper! Pepper!" came Tony's voice from down the hall, before Steve burst through Pepper's door

"Pepper, Natasha _really_ needs to go to the hospital" Steve told her

"What happened?" she asked, getting up from where she was perched on the edge of her bed

"I don't know, she just fell..."

On re entering the room Pepper could see that Natasha had collapsed  
_'Low blood pressure, nose bleeds, pneumonia, cessation of breathing, kidney failure, seizures...'_ all the complications the doctor had warned her of when they'd taken Clint in, the doctors warning _'Younger children tend to be at much more risk of severe complications'_ was ringing in her ear.

"Shit" Pepper cussed, as she approached the unconscious child, Tony was crouched on the floor gripping her hand as he looked up at Pepper; tears in his eyes

"Is this why Clint didn't come home?" Steve asked sadly, the seriousness of the situation seemed to have hit them

"Wake up Tasha!" Bruce demanded from where he and Thor were sat on the sofa. For the first time ever Thor whispered; "I don't think she can Bruce"

Pepper lifted Natasha's limp body into her arms and held her close as she and Darcy left to return to the hospital, leaving the questions to the remaining three adults.

Jane explained that Clint and Natasha were poorly, but because Natasha was younger, and smaller; she was having a harder time fighting the infection. Phil assured them that the doctors would take good care of them, and Maria promised them they could go visit their friends once the doctors allowed them too.

Clint recovered quickly; the worst side affects he suffered were vomiting and dehydration. As soon as Natasha was admitted, he crawled into her hospital bed beside her, refusing to return to his own.

Natasha took a little longer to get back on her feet, giving the doctors and Pepper a few scares along the way; she had seizures and stopped breathing a few times, but after a few days on IV antibiotics she was starting to improve, and the doctors gave their approval for the other children to come visit.

The four of them excitedly climbed to sit on the bed with their friends, and Darcy wondered how all six of them managed to fit. Steve, Thor, Tony and Bruce had made get well cards for them; which was impressive as only half of them had ever showed any interest in arts and crafts before, Tony outright declaring that he didn't have the patience for it, but nevertheless, he and Thor had joined the others in drawing and gluing, determined to make cards as good as the others.

They'd also been shopping for new toys while Clint and Natasha had been hospitalized. Tony showed Natasha proudly the Rapunzel doll he'd chosen for her and Thor declared (loudly) that he had found Clint a new bow and arrow set.  
Pepper rolled her eyes at Phil who had allowed them to get a new set for Clint after his last ones had been confiscated following another broken vase.

Soon the mini-assassins were released, no one was happier about this than the staff who had lost them twice after their health improved enough that they were no longer bed bound (although they were still supposed to be on bed rest)  
They were certainly no less mischievous when they were ill

Pepper and Darcy took them back to the tower where the four boys had insisted on a welcome home party for Clint and Natasha, including a home made cake (by Steve) and all their favourite foods (Thai curry, nachos, jelly and lots of chocolate)

It was great having all six kids back together again,l they just didn't seem themselves when they'd been separated.  
After eating, they all crashed and fell asleep on the sofa while watching the Tangled DVD Bruce had insisted on getting for Natasha. They were all rather squashed as the six had insisted on squeezing on one sofa, but none of them minded.


	45. Competition

_Sorry for the erratic/delayed updates, for this and all my other fics/series; I'm back on placement for uni and on my first stint in a hospital (scary!) and I also have assignments due very soon!_

_Hope you enjoy the latest updates!_

_~ F_

* * *

One evening at dinner Tony has started bragging that he used to stay up all night all the time, Thor told everyone how he often attended feasts and celebrations that went on til morning, and Natasha informed everyone that where she came from; sometimes they weren't allowed to sleep for days.  
So that night Tony came up with a challenge; they'd wait until the adults were all asleep, and then they'd meet back in the lounge and see who could stay awake the longest, whoever won could draw on the others faces; they all hastily agreed.

That night, just before midnight the six miniature superheroes assesmbled in lounge.

They talked to each other for hours, until Bruce fell asleep; everyone figured he'd be first.  
Steve made the mistake of getting too comfortable on the sofa and soon drifted off, and Thor gave in next.  
Clint had dozed off a few times throughout the night, but Natasha kept waking him subtly.

"You okay Nat, you're looking tired" Tony teased as she yawned and rubbed her eyes

"I'm fine" she replied sharply, nudging Clint again

It wasn't long until Clint was dead to the world, leaving just Tony and Natasha sat on the floor staring at each other, it was gone 4 am and though neither would admit it, they were getting tired

They'd stopped talking by now, just staring at each other through the dimly lit room.  
Tasha yawned again, and Tony subconsciously mimicked the action. Natasha shifted from her position so she was lay down on the floor, and again Tony copied, by the time the clock hit 5am; Tony was asleep and Natasha scrambled off to find a marker, happy her plan had worked.

Darcy woke first the next morning, and in her rush to get to the coffee machine she didn't notice the six sleeping children sprawled out across the sofa, chair and floor. It wasn't until she went to turn on the news did she see them, and she couldn't help but laugh

Natasha had really gone to town with the markers.

She'd left Clint's face free of pen, but the others were covered in it. She'd coloured Bruce's whole face green, she'd turned Tony into a clown; giving him a big red nose, while Steve had the American flag drawn over his face (Natasha had only recently learnt what the US flag looked like) and Thor was made to look like tiger; his face was bright orange and had black stripes across his forehead and cheeks, along with whispers and a pink nose.

Natasha was lay on the floor by Clint, surrounded by markers and her hands covered in ink. How she'd managed to do all that to them without them waking was beyond Darcy.

Snapping a few pictures on her phone, she went to wake the others so they could see the scene.

Tony soon woke, rubbing his eyes and slightly confused as to why he was lay in the lounge, before he remembered the previous nights competition.  
Looking up he saw Pepper, Phil, Maria, Darcy and Jane staring down at him

"Why are you all asleep in here?" Phil asked

"We were doing a competition"

"What sort of competition?" Maria pressed

"We wanted to see who could stay awake longest, whoever won could draw on the others faces, but I think me and Tasha went to sleep at the same time..." he trailed off. He obviously hadn't noticed the pile of markers by the young girl, or anyone else's faces

Darcy started laughing again until Jane elbowed her, while still trying to keep her own laughter under control

"Tony, who's idea was this 'competition'?"

"Mine"

"Well then you got everything you deserve" Pepper told him, passing him her compact mirror

Tony took in his appearance in shock; his face was completely while, his nose and mouth were bright red and he had a blue diamonds coloured over each eye in the perfect depiction of the clown they'd seen at the funfair the previous week

He quickly turned to look at the others before waking them up  
Steve burst out laughing on seeing Tony's face, as did Thor, before Tony passed them the compact mirror in return

The three of them looked at the still sleeping Natasha and tried to think of a way to get her back. That was until Pepper appeared in-between the three plotting children and the subject of their discussion

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Plotting" Thor told her honestly before Tony could stop him

"I don't think so, you guys all signed up for this and knew what was going to happen, you leave Tasha alone"

"Okay Lady Pepper" Thor agreed, running off when he saw Jane holding out a plate of pop tarts for him

Steve nodded and went to join Bruce, Thor and the others at the table for breakfast

"Okay?" Pepper pressed

"Okay Pepper... But did she have to make me a clown of all things?!" Tony asked grumpily, he didn't like clowns

"I think it suits you" Clint told him as he woke

"How come you don't have any pen on your face?" Tony asked, "You was asleep too, I saw you!"

Clint shrugged; "Maybe Tasha just likes me better than you" he said, sticking his tongue out before racing Tony to the table

An hour or so later Natasha was woken gently by Pepper;

"Natasha, Tasha sweetie, where did you get these markers from?"

Natasha slowly sat up and shielded her eyes from the bright sun streaming in through the windows. Yawning, she replied "From your office, I couldn't reach mine, they were up too high"

"Ot oh" Pepper replied, getting up to walk back down toward the bathroom; "It's no good Maria, it's permanent marker" she called through the bathroom door

"Nice!" Clint beamed at Natasha, giving her a high five and a cheeky grin


End file.
